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Craft CMS vulnerable to Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) via GraphQL Asset Upload Mutation

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jan 3, 2026 in craftcms/cms • Updated Jan 6, 2026

Package

composer craftcms/cms (Composer)

Affected versions

>= 5.0.0-RC1, <= 5.8.20
>= 3.5.0, <= 4.16.16

Patched versions

5.8.21
4.16.17

Description

The Craft CMS GraphQL save_<VolumeName>_Asset mutation is vulnerable to Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF). This vulnerability arises because the _file input, specifically its url parameter, allows the server to fetch content from arbitrary remote locations without proper validation. Attackers can exploit this by providing internal IP addresses or cloud metadata endpoints as the url, forcing the server to make requests to these restricted services. The fetched content is then saved as an asset, which can subsequently be accessed and exfiltrated, leading to potential data exposure and infrastructure compromise. This exploitation requires specific GraphQL permissions for asset management within the targeted volume.

Users should update to the patched 5.8.21 and 4.16.17 releases to mitigate the issue.

References:

craftcms/cms@013db63

https://github.com/craftcms/cms/blob/5.x/CHANGELOG.md#5821---2025-12-04

Required Permissions

The exploitation requires a few permissions to be enabled in the used GraphQL schema:

  • "Edit assets in the <VolumeName> volume"
  • "Create assets in the <VolumeName> volume"

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Log in to the Craft CMS control panel as an admin.

  2. Create a new volume if you haven’t yet.

  3. Create a new schema (or use the full/public schema) and enable the permissions mentioned above in the Required Permissions section.

  4. Go to GraphiQL: http://craft.local/admin/graphiql & set the created schema.

  5. Run the following GraphQL mutation to upload an Asset (Replace the <VolumeName> with your volume name):

mutation {
    save_<VolumeName>_Asset(_file: { 
        url: "http://127.0.0.1:80/index.php"
        filename: "poc.txt"
    }) {
        id
    }
}

  1. Note that the index.php response will be saved as poc.txt & its content will be accessible via the asset preview/download functionality.

  2. For the PoC, http://127.0.0.1:80/index.php was used as an example. However, the url parameter can be leveraged to target internal services, cloud metadata endpoints, or any arbitrary external URL.

Impact

Successful exploitation of this SSRF vulnerability allows attackers to access internal network resources, bypass firewall rules, and conduct network reconnaissance.

In cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure), this can lead to the theft of sensitive credentials (e.g., IAM roles, service account tokens) from metadata endpoints, potentially resulting in the full compromise of the underlying infrastructure and the exfiltration of sensitive data.

Users should update to the patched versions (5.8.21 and 4.16.17) to mitigate the issue.

Users running Craft 3.5.0+ should update to the latest Craft 4.16.17 or 5.8.21 releases.

References

@angrybrad angrybrad published to craftcms/cms Jan 3, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jan 5, 2026
Reviewed Jan 5, 2026
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jan 5, 2026
Last updated Jan 6, 2026

Severity

Moderate

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 Present
Privileges Required High
User interaction None
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality High
Integrity None
Availability None
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:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(9th percentile)

Weaknesses

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

The web server receives a URL or similar request from an upstream component and retrieves the contents of this URL, but it does not sufficiently ensure that the request is being sent to the expected destination. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2025-68437

GHSA ID

GHSA-x27p-wfqw-hfcc

Source code

Credits

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