Dalfox Server Mode has an Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Create/Append via output Option
Summary
When dalfox is run in REST API server mode, the output, output-all, and debug fields in model.Options are JSON-tagged and deserialized directly from the attacker's request body, then propagated unchanged through dalfox.Initialize into the scan engine's logging path. The logger opens the attacker-supplied path with os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY and writes scan log lines to it. Critically, this file write block lives outside the IsLibrary guard in DalLog, so it executes even in server/library mode where file output was never intended to operate. Because no API key is required in the default configuration, an unauthenticated network caller can create or append to any file writable by the dalfox process on the host filesystem.
Severity
High (CVSS 3.1: 8.2)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
- Attack Vector: Network — server binds to
0.0.0.0:6664 by default. - Attack Complexity: Low — no preconditions; all trigger options (
output, output-all, debug) are fully attacker-supplied in the JSON body. - Privileges Required: None —
--api-key defaults to "", so the auth middleware is never registered. - User Interaction: None.
- Scope: Unchanged — the file write stays within the dalfox process's OS authority.
- Confidentiality Impact: None — this is a write-only primitive; no data is returned to the caller.
- Integrity Impact: High — the attacker has full control over which file path is opened, enabling creation of new files or corruption of existing files anywhere the dalfox process has write permission. While the log content format is semi-fixed, the file path is entirely attacker-determined, making the integrity violation complete with respect to file targeting.
- Availability Impact: Low — corrupting application configuration files or log files on the host can degrade the availability of other services relying on those files.
Affected Component
cmd/server.go — init() (line 51): --api-key defaults to "" — no auth by defaultpkg/server/server.go — setupEchoServer() (line 68): auth middleware only registered when APIKey != ""pkg/server/server.go — postScanHandler() (lines 173–191): rq.Options (including OutputFile, OutputAll, Debug) passed to ScanFromAPI without sanitizationlib/func.go — Initialize() (line 107): OutputFile explicitly propagated from caller options; OutputAll (line 167) and Debug (line 176) likewiseinternal/printing/logger.go — DalLog() (lines 230–244): os.OpenFile(options.OutputFile, os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY, 0644) executes outside the IsLibrary guard
CWE
- CWE-306: Missing Authentication for Critical Function
- CWE-73: External Control of File Name or Path
- CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type (write-path variant)
Description
output, output-all, and debug Are Fully Attacker-Controlled
model.Options exposes all three trigger fields with JSON tags:
```go
// pkg/model/options.go:88,85,88
OutputFile string json:"output,omitempty"
OutputAll bool json:"output-all,omitempty"
Debug bool json:"debug,omitempty"
```
postScanHandler binds the entire Req.Options from the JSON body and passes it directly to ScanFromAPI:
```go
// pkg/server/server.go:173-191
rq := new(Req)
if err := c.Bind(rq); err != nil { ... }
go ScanFromAPI(rq.URL, rq.Options, *options, sid)
```
Initialize explicitly copies all three fields into newOptions:
```go
// lib/func.go:107, 167, 176
"OutputFile": {&newOptions.OutputFile, options.OutputFile},
...
"OutputAll": {&newOptions.OutputAll, options.OutputAll},
...
"Debug": {&newOptions.Debug, options.Debug},
```
The File Write Is Not Guarded by IsLibrary
Initialize always sets IsLibrary: true (line 20) and Silence: true (line 44) in its returned options — the intent being that the scan engine runs in embedded/library mode during API calls, suppressing terminal I/O. DalLog does respect this for stderr output: lines 203–228 route logs to ScanResult.Logs (not stderr) when IsLibrary is true. However, the file write block at lines 230–244 is positioned after and outside that if-else:
```go
// internal/printing/logger.go
mutex.Lock()
if options.IsLibrary {
options.ScanResult.Logs = append(options.ScanResult.Logs, text) // API path
} else {
// stderr printing (CLI path)
}
// ← file write is here, unconditionally — no IsLibrary check
if options.OutputFile != "" {
var fdtext string
if ftext != "" {
fdtext = ftext
f, err := os.OpenFile(options.OutputFile,
os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY, 0644)
if err != nil {
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "output file error (file)")
}
defer f.Close()
if _, err := f.WriteString(fdtext + "\n"); err != nil
