CVE-2023-29003: @sveltejs/kit SvelteKit Vulnerable To Cross-Site Request Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5p75-vc5g-8rv2
CVSS 8.8
CWE-184 CWE-352
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-29003 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) sveltekit vulnerable to cross-site request vulnerability (CWE-184: Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs) affecting @sveltejs/kit libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves sveltekit vulnerable to cross-site request forgery. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.15.1.

CVE-2023-29003 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-29003
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5p75-vc5g-8rv2
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-184: Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs
Affected Product @sveltejs/kit
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2023-29003

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected @sveltejs/kit dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

@sveltejs/kit fixed: 1.15.1
npm install @sveltejs/kit@1.15.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

npm ls @sveltejs/kit

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2023-29003, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls @sveltejs/kit

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of @sveltejs/kit in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.15.1), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls @sveltejs/kit command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-184: Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs, where the product implements a protection mechanism that relies on a list of inputs (or properties of inputs) that are not allowed by policy or otherwise require other action to neutralize before additional processing takes place, but the list is incomplete. In @sveltejs/kit, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Summary The SvelteKit framework offers developers an option to create simple REST APIs. This is done by defining a `+server.js` file, containing endpoint handlers for different HTTP methods. SvelteKit provides out-of-the-box cross-site request forgery (CSRF) protection to it’s users. The protection is implemented at `kit/src/runtime/server/respond.js#L52`. While the implementation does a sufficient job in mitigating common CSRF attacks, the protection can be bypassed by simply specifying a different `Content-Type` header value. ### Details The CSRF protection is implemented using the code shown below. ```js const forbidden = // (1) request.method === 'POST' && // (2) request.headers.get('origin') !== url.origin && // (3) is_form_content_type(request); if (forbidden) { // (4) const csrf_error = error(403, `Cross-site ${request.method} form submissions are forbidden`); if (request.headers.get('accept') === 'application/json') { return json(csrf_error.body, { status: csrf_error.status }); } return text(csrf_error.body.message, { status: csrf_error.status }); } ``` If the incoming request specifies a POST method (1), the protection will compare the server’s origin with the value of the HTTP `Origin` header (2). A mismatch between these values signals that a potential attack has been detected. The final check is performed on the request’s `Content-Type` header (3) whether the value is either `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data` (`kit/src/utils/http.js#L71`). If all the previous checks pass, the request will be rejected with an 403 error response (4). The `is_form_content_type` validation is not sufficient to mitigate all possible variations of this type of attack. If a CSRF attack is performed with the `Content-Type` header set to `text/plain`, the protection will be circumvented and the request will be processed by the endpoint handler. <!-- ### PoC To reproduce this issue, create and run a simple server (by default running on `localhost:3000`) with a POST endpoint handler such as: ```js export async function POST({ request }) { const data = await request.json(); console.log(JSON.stringify(data)); return new Response(String('success')); } ``` Next, save the malicious HTML page: ```html <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head></head> <body> <h1 id="name"></h1> <form action="http://localhost:3000/api/test" method="POST" enctype="text/plain"> <input type="hidden" name="&#123;&quot;name&quot;&#58;&quot;test" value="&quot;&#44;&quot;age&quot;&#58;123&#125;" /> <input type="submit" value="Submit" /> </form> </body> </html> ``` in a file named `index.html`. Run another web server, using Python’s built in http.server module (`python -m http.server`, by default running on `localhost:8000`), navigate to [http://localhost:8000/index.html](http://localhost:8000/index.html) and click the `Submit` button. Verify that the browser’s URL has changed to `localhost:3000` and that the text `success` is displayed on the screen. Additionally, inspect the console of the SvelteKit web server and verify that the request body (`{"name":"test=","age":123}`) was parsed as valid JSON and printed out. It's worth noting that this attack is possible only for JSON request bodies. Form data sent using `text/plain` will be rejected by the server. --> ### Impact If abused, this issue will allow malicious requests to be submitted from third-party domains, which can allow execution of operations within the context of the victim's session, and in extreme scenarios can lead to unauthorized access to users’ accounts. ### Remediation SvelteKit 1.15.1 updates the `is_form_content_type` function call in the CSRF protection logic to include `text/plain`. As additional hardening of the CSRF protection mechanism against potential method overrides, SvelteKit 1.15.1 is now performing validation on PUT, PATCH and DELETE methods as well. This latter hardening is only needed to protect users who have put in some sort of `?_method=` override feature themselves in their `handle` hook, so that the request that `resolve` sees could be `PUT`/`PATCH`/`DELETE` when the browser issues a `POST` request.

CVE-2023-29003 Affected @sveltejs/kit Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.15.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
@sveltejs/kit
npm
< 1.15.1
1.15.1

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-29003?
CVE-2023-29003 is a security vulnerability in @sveltejs/kit involving SvelteKit vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery under CWE-184: Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs.
Which @sveltejs/kit versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.15.1 across affected packages: @sveltejs/kit.
What version fixes CVE-2023-29003?
Upgrading to 1.15.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is @sveltejs/kit affected?
Yes, @sveltejs/kit is affected in releases prior to 1.15.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.15.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-29003?
CVE-2023-29003 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-29003?
CVE-2023-29003 is classified under CWE-184: Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs (The product implements a protection mechanism that relies on a list of inputs (or properties of inputs) that are not allowed by policy or otherwise require other action to neutralize before additional processing takes place, but the list is incomplete.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2023-29003?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls @sveltejs/kit'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-5p75-vc5g-8rv2",
  "modified" : "2023-06-21T13:48:08Z",
  "published" : "2023-04-04T21:20:47Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-29003" ],
  "summary" : "SvelteKit vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery",
  "details" : "### Summary\nThe SvelteKit framework offers developers an option to create simple REST APIs. This is done by defining a `+server.js` file, containing endpoint handlers for different HTTP methods.\n\nSvelteKit provides out-of-the-box cross-site request forgery (CSRF) protection to it’s users. The protection is implemented at `kit/src/runtime/server/respond.js#L52`. While the implementation does a sufficient job in mitigating common CSRF attacks, the protection can be bypassed by simply specifying a different `Content-Type` header value.\n\n### Details\nThe CSRF protection is implemented using the code shown below.\n\n```js\nconst forbidden =\n  // (1)\n  request.method === 'POST' &&\n  // (2)\n  request.headers.get('origin') !== url.origin &&\n  // (3)\n  is_form_content_type(request);\n\nif (forbidden) {\n  // (4)\n  const csrf_error = error(403, `Cross-site ${request.method} form submissions are forbidden`);\n  if (request.headers.get('accept') === 'application/json') {\n    return json(csrf_error.body, { status: csrf_error.status });\n  }\n  return text(csrf_error.body.message, { status: csrf_error.status });\n}\n```\nIf the incoming request specifies a POST method (1), the protection will compare the server’s origin with the value of the HTTP `Origin` header (2). A mismatch between these values signals that a potential attack has been detected. The final check is performed on the request’s `Content-Type` header (3) whether the value is either `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data` (`kit/src/utils/http.js#L71`). If all the previous checks pass, the request will be rejected with an 403 error response (4).\n\nThe `is_form_content_type` validation is not sufficient to mitigate all possible variations of this type of attack. If a CSRF attack is performed with the `Content-Type` header set to `text/plain`, the protection will be circumvented and the request will be processed by the endpoint handler.\n<!--\n### PoC\nTo reproduce this issue, create and run a simple server (by default running on `localhost:3000`) with a POST endpoint handler such as:\n\n```js\nexport async function POST({ request }) {\n    const data = await request.json(); \n    console.log(JSON.stringify(data));\n    return new Response(String('success'));\n}\n```\n\nNext, save the malicious HTML page:\n\n```html\n<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head></head>\n<body>\n  <h1 id=\"name\"></h1>\n  <form action=\"http://localhost:3000/api/test\" method=\"POST\" enctype=\"text/plain\">\n    <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"&#123;&quot;name&quot;&#58;&quot;test\" value=\"&quot;&#44;&quot;age&quot;&#58;123&#125;\" />\n    <input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" />\n  </form>\n</body>\n</html>\n```\n\nin a file named `index.html`. Run another web server, using Python’s built in http.server module (`python -m http.server`, by default running on `localhost:8000`), navigate to [http://localhost:8000/index.html](http://localhost:8000/index.html) and click the `Submit` button. \n\nVerify that the browser’s URL has changed to `localhost:3000` and that the text `success` is displayed on the screen. Additionally, inspect the console of the SvelteKit web server and verify that the request body (`{\"name\":\"test=\",\"age\":123}`) was parsed as valid JSON and printed out. \n\nIt's worth noting that this attack is possible only for JSON request bodies. Form data sent using `text/plain` will be rejected by the server. \n-->\n### Impact\n\nIf abused, this issue will allow malicious requests to be submitted from third-party domains, which can allow execution of operations within the context of the victim's session, and in extreme scenarios can lead to unauthorized access to users’ accounts.\n\n### Remediation\n\nSvelteKit 1.15.1 updates the `is_form_content_type` function call in the CSRF protection logic to include `text/plain`.\n\nAs additional hardening of the CSRF protection mechanism against potential method overrides, SvelteKit 1.15.1 is now performing validation on PUT, PATCH and DELETE methods as well. This latter hardening is only needed to protect users who have put in some sort of `?_method=` override feature themselves in their `handle` hook, so that the request that `resolve` sees could be `PUT`/`PATCH`/`DELETE` when the browser issues a `POST` request.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "@sveltejs/kit"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.15.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sveltejs/kit/security/advisories/GHSA-5p75-vc5g-8rv2"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-29003"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sveltejs/kit/commit/bb2253d51d00aba2e4353952d4fb0dcde6c77123"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sveltejs/kit"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sveltejs/kit/releases/tag/%40sveltejs%2Fkit%401.15.1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-184", "CWE-352" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-04-04T21:20:47Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-04-04T22:15:00Z"
  }
}