Path Traversal in googleapis/mcp-toolbox HTTP Tool URL Builder
A path traversal vulnerability exists in the HTTP tool URL builder of googleapis/mcp-toolbox.
When constructing downstream API requests, the URL builder substitutes user-controlled pathParams into the configured tool path and parses the resulting string as a relative URL. While it checks that the input does not alter the scheme, host, or user info, it relies on ResolveReference for the final URL resolution. Because dot segments (../) are normalized during this resolution step, an attacker can supply path parameters containing directory traversal sequences to escape the operator-configured path scope. This allows the client to coerce the toolbox into making requests to unintended endpoints on the same target host while forwarding the toolbox's configured credentials (e.g., bypassing a restricted path like /api/v1/users/{{.id}} to reach /admin/secrets).
Problem Types
| Type | CWE ID | Description |
|---|
| CWE | CWE-22 | CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') |
Type: CWE
Description: CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Metrics
| Version | Base score | Base severity | Vector |
|---|
| 4.0 | 9.3 | CRITICAL | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
Version: 4.0
Base score: 9.3
Base severity: CRITICAL
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Impacts
| CAPEC ID | Description |
|---|
| CAPEC-139 | CAPEC-139: Relative Path Traversal |
Description: CAPEC-139: Relative Path Traversal