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GHSA-cr3w-cw5w-h3fj

CriticalCVSS 9.6 / 10
Published Jan 26, 2026·Last modified Feb 3, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Summary

  1. There is a reflected XSS vulnerability in the GET /admin/edit-codepage/:name route through the name parameter. This can be used to hijack the session of an admin if they click a specially crafted link.
  2. Additionally, there is a Command Injection vulnerability in GET /admin/backup. The admin can inject a shell command in the backup password which is inserted in the command used to create the backup zip.

Both vulnerabilities can be chained to craft a malicious link which will execute an arbitrary shell command on the server if it is clicked by a saltcorn admin with an active session. I believe iframes could also be used to exploit this silently when the admin visits an attacker-controlled web page (though I have not tested that).

Details

  1. The XSS vulnerability is here: https://github.com/saltcorn/saltcorn/blob/020893c0001678fd5ebd2c088ba68b395de1aabc/packages/server/routes/admin.js#L4886-L4887 Specifically, the name parameter is inserted into the pages breadcrumbs without sanitization.
  2. The Command Injection happens here: https://github.com/saltcorn/saltcorn/blob/020893c0001678fd5ebd2c088ba68b395de1aabc/packages/saltcorn-admin-models/models/backup.ts#L381-L382

PoC

  1. A minimal PoC for the XSS can be as simple as: http://localhost:3000/admin/edit-codepage/%3Cimg%20src%3Dx%20onerror%3Dalert%281%29%3E%0A (assuming saltcorn running at localhost:3000 and the user having an active admin session)
  2. For the Command Injection, visit the backup section of saltcorn, set an admin password like ";$(whoami);" (including the quotation marks) and then click "Download a backup" in the "Manual backup" section. This should display an error page saying that /bin/sh could not find the binary named "root" or "saltcorn", depending on the user.

An example of an exploit that chains both vulnerabilities and generates the aforementioned malicious link: exploit.zip

Affected Versions

Edit: The following Docker containers from docker hub were tested: 1.4.1, 1.4.0, 1.3.1, 1.3.0, 1.2.0, 1.1.2, 1.1.1, 1.0.0 The Command Injection is applicable to versions >= 1.3.0. The XSS is applicable to versions >= 1.1.1

Risk Scores
Base Score
9.6

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. The attacker needs the user to perform some action, like clicking a link. The vulnerability can affect other systems as well, not just the initial system. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.

Threat Intelligence
8.8

Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.

EPSS
N/A

Probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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Critical severity
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