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GHSA-8jj7-4v57-frf5
django-cmsSummary
The move_plugin admin endpoint does not prevent a plugin from being reparented under itself or one of its own descendants. Doing so creates a cycle in the plugin tree, after which the recursive descendant/ancestor SQL queries loop without terminating, stalling the request worker.
Details
move_plugin (in cms/admin/placeholderadmin.py) accepts a plugin_parent POST parameter and, for an in-placeholder move, sets the plugin's parent to the target without any cycle/ancestor check. If the target parent is a descendant of the moved plugin, the resulting parent_id graph contains a cycle.
Descendant and ancestor traversal is implemented with WITH RECURSIVE CTEs (_get_descendants_cte / _get_ancestors_cte in cms/models/pluginmodel.py) that have no cycle clause or depth limit. On a cyclic tree these recurse indefinitely (PostgreSQL/SQLite) or error at the recursion limit (MySQL). get_descendants() is invoked while building the move response and on subsequent operations on the affected subtree.
Impact
An authenticated staff user with permission to change plugins in at least one placeholder can corrupt that placeholder's plugin tree, causing requests that traverse it (rendering, copy, delete) to hang and consume application workers (denial of service). The tree is also left in a corrupted state.
Requires CMS_PERMISSION/plugin-change permission on a placeholder.
Patches
Fixed in 5.0.8: move_plugin now rejects (HTTP 400) any move that would place a plugin inside itself or one of its descendants, before any tree mutation or traversal.
Workarounds
None. Upgrade is recommended.
Credits
Reported by the security team at the University of Sydney ([@reporter]).
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The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker needs basic access or low-level privileges. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a low impact on the integrity of the data. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.
Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.
The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.
We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.
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