Arbitrary File Deletion Vulnerability in Siyuan Note

Published Date: January 5, 2025

Package Affected Versions Patched Versions Severity
📦 github.com/siyuan-note/siyuan/kernel (Go) < 0.0.0-20250103014808-d9887aeec1b2 High

Description

Summary


Siyuan Note contains an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in the /api/history/getDocHistoryContent endpoint. An attacker can exploit this flaw by crafting a malicious request, which could delete arbitrary files on the server.




Technical Details


The vulnerability lies in how the historyPath parameter is processed in the following function chain:

  1. api/history.go:133 – Processes historyPath from the request payload.

  2. model/history.go:150 – Passes historyPath to the GetDocHistoryContent function.


Here’s the critical section:

if historyPath exists and does not satisfy the filesys.ParseJSONWithoutFix, then it will be deleted by os.RemoveAll


If ParseJSONWithoutFix fails, the file at historyPath will be deleted via os.RemoveAll.

Proof of Concept (PoC)


An attacker can exploit this with the following curl command:

curl "http://127.0.0.1:6806/api/history/getDocHistoryContent" \
-X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"historyPath":"<abs_filepath_of_a_file>"}'


Replace <abs_filepath_of_a_file> with the absolute path of the target file.




Impact


Successful exploitation allows an attacker to delete any file on the server, potentially leading to service disruption or further exploitation depending on the deleted files.

Patches & Workarounds

Mitigation and Fix


Currently, no official patch is available. However, here are some immediate steps to reduce risk:

  1. Restrict Access: Limit access to the vulnerable API endpoint to trusted IP addresses.

  2. Validate Input: Ensure historyPath strictly validates file paths before processing.

  3. Temporary Disablement: If possible, disable the /api/history/getDocHistoryContent endpoint until a patch is released.






Recommended Code Fix Example:
Add strict validation to prevent arbitrary file paths:

if !isValidHistoryPath(historyPath) {
return errors.New("invalid history path")
}


Implement isValidHistoryPath to ensure historyPath adheres to safe patterns.

References

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21609
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