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Flight has path traversal in `make:controller` CLI that creates arbitrary directories outside project root

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Apr 29, 2026 in flightphp/core • Updated May 6, 2026

Package

composer flightphp/core (Composer)

Affected versions

< 3.18.1

Patched versions

3.18.1

Description

Summary

The make:controller CLI command calls mkdir(..., recursive: true) on a path built from the user-supplied controller name, before Nette's class-name validation runs. The class-file write is correctly rejected by Nette when the name contains /, but the recursive directory creation side effect is already committed — including directories located outside the project root through ../ traversal.

Affected code

flight/commands/ControllerCommand.php (≈ 63-66):

if (is_dir(dirname($controllerPath)) === false) {
    $io->info('Creating directory ' . dirname($controllerPath), true);
    mkdir(dirname($controllerPath), 0755, true);   // un-normalized, runs before validation
}

Proof of concept

$ php vendor/flightphp/runway/runway make:controller '../../../../tmp/CONTROLLER_TRAVERSAL_TEST/pwn'
Creating directory .../app/controllers/../../../../tmp/CONTROLLER_TRAVERSAL_TEST
Nette\InvalidArgumentException: Value '../../../../tmp/CONTROLLER_TRAVERSAL_TEST/pwnController' is not valid class name.

$ ls /home/user/tmp/CONTROLLER_TRAVERSAL_TEST
(directory exists — created before the exception was thrown)

Impact

  • Arbitrary directory creation outside the project root, executable by any local actor that can run the Flight CLI (developer machine, shared CI build agent, compromised dev container).
  • Primes log-file planting for chained LFI exploitation (e.g. creating a directory where an attacker can later drop a .php file to be included via a distinct template-include weakness).
  • On Windows, the \ separator opens additional traversal surface.

Patch (fixed in 3.18.1, commit b8dd23a)

The controller name is now normalized with basename() and validated against ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$ before any mkdir side effect runs.

Credit

Discovered by @Rootingg.

References

@n0nag0n n0nag0n published to flightphp/core Apr 29, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 6, 2026
Reviewed May 6, 2026
Last updated May 6, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-42549

GHSA ID

GHSA-3xjv-pmf2-gf2q

Source code

Credits

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