GHSA-qq2c-2q8j-jh27
Craft CMS: Authorship spoofing in `entries/save-entry` via pre-check/post-mutation authorization gap
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packagist | craftcms/cms | >= 5.0.0-RC1, < 5.9.21 | 5.9.21 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
### Summary
`EntriesController::actionSaveEntry()` performs entry-edit permission checks before request-controlled author changes are applied to the model. The subsequent author mutation path accepts attacker-supplied `authors` / `author` parameters and allows the change when the current user is one of the old authors. Because the controller does not re-run authorization after mutating the author list, a low-privileged user can reassign an entry’s authorship to another user without holding the dedicated peer-author-change permission.
### Details
The control flow begins in [EntriesController.php](/D:/files/projects/cms-5.9.19/cms-5.9.19/src/controllers/EntriesController.php):249. `actionSaveEntry()` loads the entry and enforces edit permissions before calling `_populateEntryModel()`:
```php
public function actionSaveEntry(bool $duplicate = false): ?Response
{
...
$entry = $this->_editableEntry($this->request->getBodyParam('entryId'), $siteId);
...
$this->enforceEditEntryPermissions($entry, $duplicate);
...
$this->_populateEntryModel($entry);
...
$success = Craft::$app->getElements()->saveElement($entry);
}
```
The attacker-controlled source is in [EntriesController.php](/D:/files/projects/cms-5.9.19/cms-5.9.19/src/controllers/EntriesController.php):588:
```php
$entry->setAttributesFromRequest(array_filter([
'authorIds' => $this->request->getBodyParam('authors') ??
$this->request->getBodyParam('author') ??
$entry->getAuthorId() ??
static::currentUser()->id,
]));
```
`Entry::setAttributesFromRequest()` in [Entry.php](/D:/files/projects/cms-5.9.19/cms-5.9.19/src/elements/Entry.php):1124 extracts the new author IDs and applies them if `canChangeAuthor()` returns true:
```php
if (
($authorIds !== null || $authorId !== null) &&
$this->canChangeAuthor()
) {
$this->_oldAuthorIds = $oldAuthorIds;
$this->setAuthorIds($authorIds);
}
```
`canChangeAuthor()` at [Entry.php](/D:/files/projects/cms-5.9.19/cms-5.9.19/src/elements/Entry.php):2789 allows the author change when the current user can view peer entries and is already one of the existing authors:
```php
return (
empty($authorIds) ||
in_array($user->id, $authorIds) ||
$user->can("changeAuthorForPeerEntries:$section->uid")
);
```
After the author list is mutated, the controller does not re-check authorization.
This closes the exploit chain:
1. External source: authenticated request to `entries/save-entry` with attacker-controlled `authors[]`.
2. Trust boundary failure: authorization is checked on the pre-mutation entry state, not on the post-mutation author assignment.
3. Privileged sink: the author relationship is rewritten in persistent storage.
Preconditions derived from the source:
1. The attacker is authenticated and can edit entry `345`.
2. The attacker is among the existing authors of entry `345`, or otherwise satisfies `canChangeAuthor()` through the old author set.
3. The attacker has `viewPeerEntries` for the section.
4. User ID `1` exists and can be assigned as an author in that section.
Result:
1. `enforceEditEntryPermissions()` succeeds on the original entry state.
2. `_populateEntryModel()` reads `authors[]=1` from the request body.
3. `setAttributesFromRequest()` updates `authorIds` because `canChangeAuthor()` is evaluated against the old authorship state.
4. `saveElement()` persists the change and `_saveAuthors()` rewrites the entry-author relation.
5. Entry `345` now appears authored by user `1`.
### Impact
This allows low-privileged users to falsify content ownership and alter the authorship of entries without having the dedicated author-management permission. The impact includes corrupted audit trails, misleading notifications, broken approval workflows, and unauthorized reassignment of content responsibility.
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.