GHSA-5882-5rx9-xgxp
Crawl4AI is Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in Docker API via Hooks Parameter
Packages
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
A critical remote code execution vulnerability exists in the Crawl4AI Docker API deployment. The `/crawl` endpoint accepts a `hooks` parameter containing Python code that is executed using `exec()`. The `__import__` builtin was included in the allowed builtins, allowing attackers to import arbitrary modules and execute system commands.
**Attack Vector:**
```json
POST /crawl
{
"urls": ["https://example.com"],
"hooks": {
"code": {
"on_page_context_created": "async def hook(page, context, **kwargs):\n __import__('os').system('malicious_command')\n return page"
}
}
}
```
### Impact
An unauthenticated attacker can:
- Execute arbitrary system commands
- Read/write files on the server
- Exfiltrate sensitive data (environment variables, API keys)
- Pivot to internal network services
- Completely compromise the server
### Mitigation
1. **Upgrade to v0.8.0** (recommended)
2. If unable to upgrade immediately:
- Disable the Docker API
- Block `/crawl` endpoint at network level
- Add authentication to the API
### Fix Details
1. Removed `__import__` from `allowed_builtins` in `hook_manager.py`
2. Hooks disabled by default (`CRAWL4AI_HOOKS_ENABLED=false`)
3. Users must explicitly opt-in to enable hooks
### Credits
Discovered by Neo by ProjectDiscovery (https://projectdiscovery.io)
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.
- https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/security/advisories/GHSA-5882-5rx9-xgxp
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-26216
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/crawl4ai/PYSEC-2026-33.yaml
- https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai
- https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/blob/main/docs/blog/release-v0.8.0.md
- https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/blob/release/v0.8.0/docs/blog/release-v0.8.0.md
- https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/blob/release/v0.8.0/docs/migration/v0.8.0-upgrade-guide.md
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/crawl4ai-docker-api-unauthenticated-remote-code-execution-via-hooks-parameter