🛡️ CVE-2026-54491 — koel

🟠 CVSS 8.0 — High ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-918 OSV
8.0
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

Koel: Incomplete fix for CVE-2026-47260 — systemic SSRF in podcast & radio fetch paths

Summary

The fix for CVE-2026-47260 (v9.3.5) added an initial isSafeUrl() check to several fetchers (synchronizeEpisodes, getStreamableUrl, AddRadioStation, EpisodePlayable), but the redirect-target validation — the per-hop Guzzle on_redirect callback added in follow-up commit be1e867 — was applied to only one path, EpisodePlayable. Every other server-side fetcher therefore has only the initial check, which an HTTP 302 redirect to an internal address bypasses, or no check at all. DNS rebinding (validation and connection resolve DNS separately, with no IP pinning) bypasses the initial check on every path.

An authenticated, non-admin user can thus cause the Koel server to issue requests to arbitrary internal / cloud-metadata endpoints (SSRF) by supplying a URL on an attacker-controlled host that 302-redirects to an internal address.

> Note: commit be1e867 shows the redirect-based SSRF vector was recognised, but the redirect defense was applied to a single call site rather than generalised — so the class survives in the sibling paths below.

Details — Root cause

App\Helpers\Network::isPublicHost() / isSafeUrl() perform a point-in-time host check with no pinning of the resolved IP, and per-redirect-hop re-validation exists only in App\Values\Podcast\EpisodePlayable (the on_redirect callback from commit be1e867). Consequently every other fetcher is exposed to (1) redirect SSRF — initial URL passes isSafeUrl, then the HTTP client follows a cross-host 302 to an internal target without re-validating the hop; and (2) DNS rebinding (TOCTOU)isPublicHost resolves DNS at validation, the HTTP client resolves again at connect time.

Affected paths (all reachable by any authenticated user)

| # | Location | Issue |

|---|----------|-------|

| 1 | PhanAn\Poddle\Poddle::fromUrl()Http::timeout()->get($url) (used by PodcastService::addPodcast/refreshPodcast) | Plain Http::get, follows redirects, no per-hop validation; refreshPodcast does not re-run isSafeUrl at all |

| 2 | PodcastService::getStreamableUrl() (PodcastService.php:244/251) | Has the initial isSafeUrl() (line 244) but the request uses ALLOW_REDIRECTS => ['track_redirects' => true] with no on_redirect → 302 to internal is followed. Called at episode stream time via PodcastStreamerAdapter. Also DNS-rebinding-exposed |

| 3 | PodcastService::isPodcastObsolete() (:221) Http::head($podcast->url) | No isSafeUrl, no redirect validation |

| 4 | App\Rules\HasAudioContentType (:45/:54) Http::head/Http::get | Self-documented "use after SafeUrl"; ordering-dependent, no own validation, no per-hop check. Extends the surface to the internet-radio feature (RadioStationStore/UpdateRequest) |

| 5 | App\Rules\SafeUrl validator (:52/:56) | Follows redirects, validates only the final effective host — intermediate-hop requests still fire |

Reachable via the native API (apiResource podcasts, radio/stations; PodcastController::store has no authorization check, only #[DisabledInDemo]) and the Subsonic API (createPodcastChannel, createInternetRadioStation, refreshPodcasts).

PoC

A mechanism PoC that runs the exact Guzzle/Laravel-Http call shapes Koel uses (attacker-redirect server + internal-target listener on loopback), verified on PHP 8.2 + Guzzle 7:

```

isPublicHost('127.0.0.1') = false # a per-hop check WOULD block this

Case1 Poddle::fromUrl -> [VULNERABLE] leaked INTERNAL-SECRET-TOKEN

Case2 getStreamableUrl -> [VULNERABLE] leaked INTERNAL-SECRET-TOKEN

Case3 EpisodePlayable -> [BLOCKED] UnsafeUrl on redirect

internal_hits.log: 2 hits # internal service actually reached by Case1 + Case2

```

Case1/Case2 reaching the internal target while Case3 (the fixed path) blocks under identical conditions demonstrates the incomplete remediation. The full PoC kit (poc.php, attacker_router.php, internal_router.php) is available on request.

End-to-end on a real instance: an authenticated user POST /api/podcasts (or Subsonic createPodcastChannel) with a feed URL on an attacker host that returns 302 Location: http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/... (or http://127.0.0.1:<port>/); the server follows it. The response is reflected back via parsed podcast fields / getStreamableUrl when the internal endpoint returns Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *; otherwise blind SSRF via status/timing.

Impact

Authenticated (any user) SSRF: access to cloud instance metadata (IAM credentials on IMDSv1), internal-only admin panels, and internal network service probing — from the Koel server's network position. Same threat model as CVE-2026-47260.

Attack scenario (fully remote, no user interaction): the only precondition is a single low-privilege account. On AWS/GCP/Azure-hosted instances, redi

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality high, integrity low, availability none.

Weakness class

CVE-2026-54491 is classified as CWE-918: Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF). The server fetches a URL supplied by the caller, which can be pointed at internal systems it alone can reach.

Affected software

CVE-2026-54491 is recorded against 1 package.

  • phanan/koel (fixed in 9.7.1)

Timeline and source

Published on 15 July 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.

References

github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
github.com (Web)

Details

Severity HIGH
CVSS Score 8.0
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
CWE CWE-918
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source OSV
Published 2026-07-15
Updated 2026-08-12
Modified 2026-07-15
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
phanan/koel 9.7.1

Similar Threats

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