Protect static file routes from directory traversal attacks.#28
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somiaj merged 2 commits intoopenwebwork:developfrom Aug 5, 2025
Merged
Protect static file routes from directory traversal attacks.#28somiaj merged 2 commits intoopenwebwork:developfrom
somiaj merged 2 commits intoopenwebwork:developfrom
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somiaj
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Jun 26, 2025
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somiaj
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This needed a change. I realized the |
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This now needs to be rebased since I merged the name change. |
Currently using a URL like
`http://baseURL/../../../../../../../../../../../../../../../../etc/passwd`
returns the file `/etc/passwd`. That of course is a security
vulnerability that should not happen.
This was recently discovered and fixed for webwork2, and basically the
same solution is used to fix it here.
Below is a minimal script that can be used to test this:
```perl
use Mojo::Base -strict;
use Mojo::UserAgent;
my $server = 'http://localhost:3001';
my $ua = Mojo::UserAgent->new;
my $res = $ua->get("$server/../../../../../../../../../../../../../../../../etc/passwd")->result;
if ($res->is_success) { say 'success'; say $res->body }
elsif ($res->is_error) { say 'error'; say $res->message }
elsif ($res->code == 301) { say '301'; say $res->headers->location }
else { say 'Whatever...' }
Mojo::IOLoop->start unless Mojo::IOLoop->is_running;
```
Set `$server` to the URL of your renderer including the `$baseURL`.
With the develop branch the above script will output "success" followed
by the contents of the `/etc/passwd` file on your server. With this
branch it will output "error" followed by "Not found".
… from webwork2. The problem with using `realpath` is that static assets can use symbolic links. In fact PG does this with static assets that reside in the same directory as the problem file by default. The `realpath` will not be a subdirectory of the temporary directory in that case. So `canonpath` must be used instead. It does not resolve symbolic links, or even things like `../` in paths. Of course the `path_is_subdir` checks those things.
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Currently using a URL like
http://baseURL/../../../../../../../../../../../../../../../../etc/passwdreturns the file/etc/passwd. That of course is a security vulnerability that should not happen.This was recently discovered and fixed for webwork2, and basically the same solution is used to fix it here.
Below is a minimal script that can be used to test this:
Set
$serverto the URL of your renderer including the$baseURL.With the develop branch the above script will output "success" followed by the contents of the
/etc/passwdfile on your server. With this branch it will output "error" followed by "Not found".