GHSA-37j7-56xc-c468 Idno Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via Chained Import File Write and Template Path Traversal
**Affected Versions:** Tested on current `dev` branch (build fingerprint `505[...]7bd86`)  
**CVSS v4 Score:** 8.6 ([CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N](https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/4.0#CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N))
**Privileges Required:** Web application admin account (for file write), any authenticated user (for RCE trigger)SummaryTwo separate vulnerabilities in Idno can be chained to achieve RCE from a web application admin account. A web application admin can cause the server to fetch an attacker-controlled URL during WordPress import processing, writing a PHP file to the server's temp directory. The admin or a separate, lower-privileged authenticated user can then trigger inclusion of that file via an unsanitized template name parameter, executing arbitrary operating system commands as the web server user.Vulnerability 1: Arbitrary PHP File Write via WordPress Import (SSRF + File Write)Location`Idno/Core/Migration.php` — `importImagesFromBodyHTML()`Required PrivilegeWeb application admin (any user with the `admin` flag set in the database, accessible via the Idno admin UI).DescriptionWhen a web application admin imports a WordPress eXtended RSS (WXR) XML file via `POST /admin/import/`, the application processes `<img>` tags in post body content and attempts to re-host images locally. The function`importImagesFromBodyHTML()` fetches each image URL using `fopen()` and writes the response body to a temp file whose name is derived from the URL.The filename is constructed as:Where `$src` is the full image URL from the XML and `basename($src)` is the filename component of that URL. Because `basename()` is applied to the URL string rather than a sanitized path, an attacker who controls the URL can make `basename()` return any filename — including one ending in `.tpl.php`.The URL filter is:Where `$src_url` is the hardcoded string `'wordpress.com'`. This check uses `substr_count` rather than comparing the URL's hostname, so it passes for any URL that contains the string `wordpress.com` anywhere — including in a path component such as `http://attacker.com/wordpress.com/shell.tpl.php`.The file write itself is:`fopen($src, 'r')` opens the attacker URL as a stream. `file_put_contents` reads from the stream in chunks and writes to disk. Because the attacker controls the HTTP server, they can hold the TCP connection open after sending the PHP payload — causing `file_put_contents` to block while the file sits on disk with its full content. The file is only deleted after `file_put_contents` returns:By holding the connection open, the attacker controls how long the file exists on disk, creating an exploitable window.The import endpoint itself adds an additional timing buffer:The browser receives a redirect response immediately, and the actual import runs in the background after 10 seconds.The resulting file is written to PHP's temp directory (typically `/tmp` from the PHP process's perspective, which on systemd-managed Apache is a private mount at `/tmp/systemd-private-{id}-apache2.service-{id}/tmp/`). The filename is predictable: `md5($full_url) . basename($url)`.PrerequisitesText plugin must be enabled (the import function returns early without it) (this appears to be enabled by default)`allow_url_fopen` must be enabled in PHP (required for `fopen($url, 'r')` on remote URLs — this is the PHP default)Vulnerability 2: Local File Inclusion via Unsanitized Template Name (LFI → RCE)Location`Idno/Pages/Search/User.php` — `getContent()`
`Idno/Core/Bonita/Templates.php` — `draw()`Required PrivilegeAny authenticated user (`gatekeeper()` only checks `isLoggedIn()`).DescriptionThe user search endpoint accepts a `template` GET parameter that is passed without sanitization to the template rendering engine:The `draw()` method in `Idno/Core/Bonita/Templates.php` applies only a regex that strips strings beginning with an underscore followed by alphanumeric characters:This regex does not strip `../` and does not reject path separators. The sanitized name is then joined with a base path and template type directory to construct the include path:Because `$templateName` is user-controlled and contains no path traversal restrictions, an attacker can supply a value such as `../../../../../../tmp/{filename}` to include any file reachable by the PHP process that has a `.tpl.php` extension.Template Type BehaviourThe `new DefaultTemplate()` constructor calls `detectTemplateType()`, which calls `detectDevice()` based on the `User-Agent` header. For standard desktop browsers this returns `'default'`. The `_t` query parameter, intended to override the template type, sets the type on the global site template object — not on the locally constructed `$t` instance — and therefore has no effect on the include path used here. The template type component of the path is always `'default'` for this endpoint under normal conditions.The full resolved include path for a desktop browser with `basepath = /var/www/html/idno` is therefore:Supplying `template=../../../../../../tmp/{filename}` resolves to:Because PHP's `$_GET` superglobal is accessible from all scopes including inside `include`d files, any PHP code in the included file can directly read query string parameters from the original HTTP request without any explicit passing mechanism.Chained Attack Flow**Attacker controls a web server** serving a PHP webshell file at a URL containing `wordpress.com` in the path, with filename ending in `.tpl.php`.**Attacker constructs a WordPress WXR XML** with an `<img>` tag whose `src` points to this URL.**Admin submits the XML** to `POST /admin/import/` with `import_type=WordPress`. The application responds immediately and runs the import in the background after 10 seconds.**`importImagesFromBodyHTML` is called.** The URL passes the `substr_count($src, 'wordpress.com')` check. `fopen($src, 'r')` connects to the attacker's server, which sends the PHP payload and holds the connection open.**`file_put_contents` writes the PHP payload to disk** at `/tmp/{md5(url)}{basename(url)}` (e.g. `/tmp/594ac6416712b71b978fa4659c4298c3shell.tpl.php`) and blocks waiting for the stream to close.**While the connection is held open**, any authenticated user sends:**`draw()` resolves the path** to `/tmp/594ac6416712b71b978fa4659c4298c3shell.tpl.php`, finds the file exists, and `include`s it.**The included PHP file executes**, reads `$_GET['cmd']` from the superglobal, and passes it to `system()`. Output is captured by `ob_get_clean()` and returned in the `rendered` field of the JSON response.**Attacker closes the connection.** `file_put_contents` returns, `createFromFile` runs, `@unlink` removes the temp file. No persistent artifact remains.Proof of ConceptCreate a WXR file with the following contentRun a server at `attacker-server-address` and host the file in path `wordpress.com/shell.tpl.php` such that fetching `http://attacker-server-address/wordpress.com/shell.tpl.php` sends the command execution payload.Import WXR from `http://idno-address/admin/import/` using the wordpress option.Wait till the server receives a connection. In my server example, the connection remains open for 45 seconds which is enough time to exploit the issue.Compute the md5 hash of payload URL `http://attacker-server-address/wordpress.com/shell.tpl.php`. In my example this is `594ac6416712b71b978fa4659c4298c3`. This means the webshell file is `594ac6416712b71b978fa4659c4298c3shell.tpl.php` with contentMake this request as any authenticated userObserve that the respone will have the command executed in the `rendered` fieldhttps://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9f36ce0e-8f73-42ba-908d-eb91cc4879b4Impact**Confidentiality:** Full read access to files accessible by the web server user**Integrity:** Arbitrary command execution as the web server user**Availability:** Complete compromise of the host running IdnoAn attacker who obtains a web application admin account (via credential theft, weak password, or other means) can escalate to OS-level code execution. The RCE trigger itself requires only a standard authenticated session, meaning the admin account is needed only for the file write stage.Root Causes| Location | Issue |
|---|---|
| `Migration.php:importImagesFromBodyHTML` | `basename($url)` used as filename with no extension restriction |
| `Migration.php:importImagesFromBodyHTML` | `substr_count` hostname check trivially bypassed by embedding `wordpress.com` in URL path |
| `Migration.php:importImagesFromBodyHTML` | Outbound `fopen()` to attacker-controlled URL with no SSRF mitigation |
| `Pages/Search/User.php` | `template` parameter passed to `draw()` without sanitization |
| `Core/Bonita/Templates.php:draw()` | Regex strips only `^_[A-Z0-9/]+` prefix — does not restrict `../` or path separators |Recommended Fixes**Restrict allowed template name characters** in `draw()` to an allowlist such as `^[a-z0-9/_-]+$`, rejecting any name containing `..` or beginning with `/`.**Validate the extension of files written by `importImagesFromBodyHTML`** against an allowlist of image extensions (jpg, jpeg, png, gif, webp) before writing to disk.**Validate the hostname of image URLs** in `importImagesFromBodyHTML` against the source domain rather than using `substr_count`, which does not distinguish hostname from path.**Use `tempnam()`** for temp files in the import flow rather than constructing filenames from user-controlled URL components.
CVSS v4.0 score: 8.6