GeoServer Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') Vulnerability (CVE-2023-41877)

Description

GeoServer is an open source software server written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. A path traversal vulnerability in versions 2.23.4 and prior requires GeoServer Administrator with access to the admin console to misconfigure the Global Settings for log file location to an arbitrary location. The admin console GeoServer Logs page provides a preview of these contents. As this issue requires GeoServer administrators access, often representing a trusted party, the vulnerability has not received a patch as of time of publication. As a workaround, a system administrator responsible for running GeoServer can use the `GEOSERVER_LOG_FILE` setting to override any configuration option provided by the Global Settings page. The `GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION` parameter can be set as system property, environment variables, or servlet context parameters.