Jiangnan Online Judge - Directory Traversal (CVE-2019-17538)

CVE-2019-17538 is a directory traversal vulnerability in Jiangnan Online Judge that allows attackers to read arbitrary files on the server by abusing path traversal in file view requests.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 10th of March 2025.

CrowdSec network observations suggest that most exploitation of CVE-2019-17538 involves focused reconnaissance to identify viable targets. Attackers typically tailor their campaigns based on system exposure and configuration. It is unlikely that a given attack is accidental. In addition, according to the CrowdSec network, attack volume against CVE-2019-17538 has dipped slightly compared to the previous week. Although still commonly targeted, the decline suggests a cooling-off period. Long-term relevance remains, but attention is waning.

Observed attack attempts target URLs containing /jnoj/web/polygon/problem/viewfile and leverage traversal patterns to gain unauthorized file access.