PHP
CVE-2023-35169
CRITICAL
Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionNVD
PHP-IMAP is a wrapper for common IMAP communication without the need to have the php-imap module installed / enabled. Prior to version 5.3.0, an unsanitized attachment filename allows any unauthenticated user to leverage a directory traversal vulnerability, which results in a remote code execution vulnerability. Every application that stores attachments with Attachment::save() without providing a $filename or passing unsanitized user input is affected by this attack.
An attacker can send an email with a malicious attachment to the inbox, which gets crawled with webklex/php-imap or webklex/laravel-imap. Prerequisite for the vulnerability is that the script stores the attachments without providing a $filename, or providing an unsanitized $filename, in src/Attachment::save(string $path, string $filename = null). In this case, where no $filename gets passed into the Attachment::save() method, the package would use a series of unsanitized and insecure input values from the mail as fallback. Even if a developer passes a $filename into the Attachment::save() method, e.g. by passing the name or filename of the mail attachment itself (from email headers), the input values never get sanitized by the package. There is also no restriction about the file extension (e.g. ".php") or the contents of a file. This allows an attacker to upload malicious code of any type and content at any location where the underlying user has write permissions. The attacker can also overwrite existing files and inject malicious code into files that, e.g. get executed by the system via cron or requests.
Version 5.3.0 contains a patch for this issue.
AnalysisAI
PHP-IMAP is a wrapper for common IMAP communication without the need to have the php-imap module installed / enabled. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Technical ContextAI
This vulnerability is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22), which allows attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path. PHP-IMAP is a wrapper for common IMAP communication without the need to have the php-imap module installed / enabled. Prior to version 5.3.0, an unsanitized attachment filename allows any unauthenticated user to leverage a directory traversal vulnerability, which results in a remote code execution vulnerability. Every application that stores attachments with Attachment::save() without providing a $filename or passing unsanitized user input is affected by this attack. An attacker can send an email with a malicious attachment to the inbox, which gets crawled with webklex/php-imap or webklex/laravel-imap. Prerequisite for the vulnerability is that the script stores the attachments without providing a $filename, or providing an unsanitized $filename, in src/Attachment::save(string $path, string $filename = null). In this case, where no $filename gets passed into the Attachment::save() method, the package would use a series of unsanitized and insecure input values from the mail as fallback. Even if a developer passes a $filename into the Attachment::save() method, e.g. by passing the name or filename of the mail attachment itself (from email headers), the input values never get sanitized by the package. There is also no restriction about the file extension (e.g. ".php") or the contents of a file. This allows an attacker to upload malicious code of any type and content at any location where the underlying user has write permissions. The attacker can also overwrite existing files and inject malicious code into files that, e.g. get executed by the system via cron or requests. Version 5.3.0 contains a patch for this issue. Affected products include: Webklex Php-Imap. Version information: version 5.3.0.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Validate and canonicalize file paths. Use chroot or sandboxing. Reject input containing path separators or '../' sequences.
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External POC / Exploit Code
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