Ghost before 5.42.1 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files within the active theme's folder via /assets/built%2F..%2F..%2F/ directory traversal. This occurs in frontend/web/middleware/static-theme.js.
CVE-2023-32235
This high-severity CVE scores 7.5 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 39.1%, top 2% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 7.5
- EG Score
- 7.5(medium)
- EG Risk
- —
- EPSS
- 98.4%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
May 5, 2023
Last Modified
January 29, 2025
References (4)
- cve@mitrehttps://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/commit/378dd913aa8d0fd0da29b0ffced8884579598b0f
- cve@mitrehttps://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/compare/v5.42.0...v5.42.1
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/commit/378dd913aa8d0fd0da29b0ffced8884579598b0f
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/compare/v5.42.0...v5.42.1
Affected Packages
(1 across 1 ecosystem)
npm(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| ghost | — | 5.42.1 | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 12× in last 7d / 46× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-22 23:09 UTCEG score recompute▼ 1.50
- 2026-07-22 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-15 21:19 UTCOSV refresh
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- 2026-07-09 19:08 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-27 22:04 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-27 03:07 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 08:47 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-04 13:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-25 01:54 UTCEG score recompute
Publicly available exploits
(3 references)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 GitHub PoC) (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-52408First seen Aug 11, 2025
Ghost CMS 5.42.1 - Path Traversal
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCAXRoux/Ghost-Path-Traversal-CVE-2023-32235-First seen Jul 9, 2023
A Directory Traversal attack (also known as path traversal) aims to access files and directories that are stored outside the intended folder.
Open source ↗ - Nucleihttp/cves/2023/CVE-2023-32235.yamlFirst seen Jan 1, 2023
Ghost CMS < 5.42.1 - Path Traversal
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same CWE)
Frequently asked(5)
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Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2023-32235
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