GHSA-gh9p-q46p-57g2 phpMyFAQ: Path Traversal in Client::deleteClientFolder enables arbitrary directory deletion by non-super-admin admins
Summary`Client::deleteClientFolder()` in `phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Instance/Client.php:583` takes a URL from the caller, strips the `https://` prefix, and passes the remainder to `Filesystem::deleteDirectory()` relative to the multisite `clientFolder`. No path-traversal validation runs. An admin with the `INSTANCE_DELETE` permission (a role short of SUPER_ADMIN) submits `https://../../../<path>` as the client URL and the server recursively deletes arbitrary directories under the web user's rights. Same pattern and reachability as GHSA-38m8-xrfj-v38x, which the project accepted at High severity three weeks earlier.Details`phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Instance/Client.php:583-591`:`str_replace` strips the scheme but does nothing about `../` segments. The concatenation `$this->clientFolder . $sourcePath` directly feeds the filesystem call, which traverses above `clientFolder` without complaint.Callers feed the URL from the HTTP request body:`phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Administration/Api/InstanceController.php:184`:`$clientData->url` comes from `json_decode($request->getContent())`. The route is `admin.api.instance.delete`, gated by `INSTANCE_DELETE`. The controller does not validate the URL against a scheme list or canonicalize the path before handing it to `deleteClientFolder()`.`InstanceController.php:144` (edit path) and `Controller/Administration/InstanceController.php:151` (form path) both reach the same sink through different entry points.PrecedentGHSA-38m8-xrfj-v38x (2026-03-31) disclosed the identical bug class in `MediaBrowserController::index()`: an admin-gated API endpoint concatenates a user-supplied filename to a base directory without traversal validation. phpMyFAQ accepted that report at High severity. The present finding is the same root cause in a different controller; the project's INSTANCE_ADD / INSTANCE_DELETE permission is a granular admin right, not SUPER_ADMIN, so a lower-tier admin can reach the sink.Proof of ConceptPrerequisites: a phpMyFAQ 4.2.x instance with the multisite subsystem bootstrapped (there must be a non-primary instance present for the delete controller branch to fire). Alice is an admin with `INSTANCE_ADD` and `INSTANCE_DELETE` rights, no `SUPER_ADMIN` flag.Step 1: Alice authenticates and retrieves the CSRF token for the instance admin page.Step 2: Alice creates an instance whose `url` encodes a traversal payload. The create path at `InstanceController.php:144` already concatenates to the clientFolder through the same `deleteClientFolder(`'https://' . $hostname`)` call:Step 3: Alice deletes the instance. The request body names the instance id to delete; the controller hands `clientData->url` directly to `deleteClientFolder`:The server computes `$sourcePath = '../../../tmp/pmf-poc/'`, concatenates to `<clientFolder>/`, and recursively deletes the resulting path.Live verification was not attempted against the test instance because the INSTANCE_DELETE path requires the multisite/ subsystem to be bootstrapped with at least one non-primary instance; see `InstanceController.php:184`. The code path is unambiguous and the precedent GHSA confirmed the same admin gating was considered in-scope.ImpactAny phpMyFAQ admin holding `INSTANCE_ADD` + `INSTANCE_DELETE` but not SUPER_ADMIN can delete arbitrary directories writable by the PHP process. Outcomes:Destroy other tenants' data on a shared multisite deployment by traversing above the `clientFolder` into peer directories.Delete phpMyFAQ's own `content/`, `config/`, or cache directories and lock the install out.On a hosted deployment, overwrite or delete files anywhere under the web user's reach, including customer uploads outside phpMyFAQ.phpMyFAQ's permission model gives `INSTANCE_ADD` / `INSTANCE_DELETE` as a role that a hosting operator may delegate to a subordinate admin without granting SUPER_ADMIN. That delegation is now a direct path-traversal-delete primitive.Recommended FixCanonicalize and validate the URL before forming the filesystem path.`phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Instance/Client.php:583`:`parse_url` rejects malformed inputs, the regex pins the host to valid DNS characters (no `/`, no `..`), and the `realpath` check ensures the resolved target lives under `clientFolder`. Apply the same canonicalization at the controller layer (`InstanceController::add`, `::update`, `::delete`) so the URL is validated before every call that touches the filesystem.*Found by [aisafe.io](https://aisafe.io)*
CVSS v3.1 score: 6.5