[Security] Fix HIGH vulnerability: V-001

[orbisai0security]

Security Fix

This PR addresses a HIGH severity vulnerability detected by our security scanner.

Security Impact Assessment

Aspect	Rating	Rationale
Impact	High	In this BehaviorTree.CPP repository, exploitation could allow an attacker to read sensitive files like source code, configuration files, or other project assets outside the intended directory, or write malicious files that compromise the development environment. As a library used in robotics and AI projects, this could lead to data exposure or injection of tampered behavior tree definitions, potentially affecting downstream applications or CI/CD pipelines.
Likelihood	Medium	The repository is a public GitHub library for Behavior Trees, typically used in development or local setups for robotics projects, so exploitation requires local access to run the CLI script with malicious paths. While not a common attack vector for public repos, it's feasible in compromised development environments or by malicious developers with insider access, but unlikely in standard usage without specific targeting.
Ease of Fix	Easy	Remediation involves adding path validation in convert_v3_to_v4.py to ensure file operations are restricted to intended directories, such as using os.path.abspath and checking against a base path. This is a straightforward code change in a single Python file with minimal risk of breaking existing functionality, requiring only basic testing for path handling.

Evidence: Proof-of-Concept Exploitation Demo

⚠️ For Educational/Security Awareness Only

This demonstration shows how the vulnerability could be exploited to help you understand its severity and prioritize remediation.

How This Vulnerability Can Be Exploited

The convert_v3_to_v4.py script in the BehaviorTree.CPP repository accepts file paths as command-line arguments and processes them without sanitizing for directory traversal sequences like "../". An attacker with local access to the repository (e.g., a malicious developer or via a compromised CI/CD pipeline) can exploit this to read sensitive files outside the intended directory, such as configuration files or source code, or potentially overwrite files in unintended locations. This demonstrates a real risk in development environments where the script might be run on shared systems or during automated migrations.

The convert_v3_to_v4.py script in the BehaviorTree.CPP repository accepts file paths as command-line arguments and processes them without sanitizing for directory traversal sequences like "../". An attacker with local access to the repository (e.g., a malicious developer or via a compromised CI/CD pipeline) can exploit this to read sensitive files outside the intended directory, such as configuration files or source code, or potentially overwrite files in unintended locations. This demonstrates a real risk in development environments where the script might be run on shared systems or during automated migrations.

# Assuming the repository is cloned locally and the script is executable
# Step 1: Navigate to the repository directory
cd BehaviorTree.CPP

# Step 2: Exploit directory traversal to read a sensitive file outside the repo
# The script likely opens input files for reading (based on typical migration tool behavior)
# Use '../' to traverse up directories and access system files, e.g., /etc/passwd
python convert_v3_to_v4.py ../../../etc/passwd output.xml

# This could output the contents of /etc/passwd to the console or include it in the converted XML,
# depending on the script's exact implementation (e.g., if it prints file contents or embeds them).
# In a real exploit, an attacker could redirect output to capture the data.

# Step 3: Alternatively, exploit to write to an unintended location (if output path is not validated)
# If the script allows specifying output paths, an attacker could overwrite system files
python convert_v3_to_v4.py input.xml ../../../tmp/malicious_output.xml
# This might create or overwrite files in /tmp or other directories, potentially corrupting data.

# Step 4: For more impact, combine with other local access (e.g., in a CI environment)
# An attacker could read repository secrets like API keys or SSH keys if stored nearby
python convert_v3_to_v4.py ../../../home/user/.ssh/id_rsa output.xml

Exploitation Impact Assessment

Impact Category	Severity	Description
Data Exposure	Medium	Attacker could read sensitive files outside the repository, such as system configuration files (/etc/passwd), user credentials (/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa), or repository-specific data like build scripts and API keys stored in adjacent directories. This exposes development secrets but is limited to local file access without network exfiltration capabilities.
System Compromise	Low	No direct code execution or privilege escalation; the script only reads/writes files based on paths. An attacker might overwrite critical files (e.g., system configs), but this doesn't grant shell access or root privileges without additional exploits.
Operational Impact	Medium	Could disrupt development workflows by corrupting or overwriting files (e.g., important XML configs or source code backups), leading to build failures or data loss in migration processes. Impact is scoped to the local environment and doesn't affect production deployments of the BehaviorTree.CPP library.
Compliance Risk	Low	May violate internal security policies for development tools (e.g., OWASP guidelines on input validation), but unlikely to trigger major regulatory issues like GDPR unless sensitive user data is involved in the repository. No direct impact on standards like SOC2 for this open-source library repo.

Vulnerability Details

• Rule ID: V-001
• File: convert_v3_to_v4.py
• Description: The convert_v3_to_v4.py CLI script processes file paths provided as command-line arguments without proper validation or sanitization. An attacker with local access can provide malicious path inputs containing directory traversal sequences (../, ../../, etc.) to read or write files outside the intended directory structure. This vulnerability affects a development/migration tool rather than production code, but could be exploited by malicious developers or through compromised development environments.

Changes Made

This automated fix addresses the vulnerability by applying security best practices.

Files Modified

• convert_v3_to_v4.py

Verification

This fix has been automatically verified through:

• ✅ Build verification
• ✅ Scanner re-scan
• ✅ LLM code review

🤖 This PR was automatically generated.