VDB
KO
HIGH

GHSA-wx3m-whqv-xv47

skillctl: Path traversal and symlink-follow in skillctl allow arbitrary file disclosure and deletion

Details

## Impact

`skillctl` 0.1.0 and 0.1.1 contained four path-safety vulnerabilities that, in combination, allowed an attacker to:

1. **Exfiltrate arbitrary files on the operator's machine** by publishing a malicious skills library containing a symlink inside a skill folder (e.g. `niania → /home/user/.aws/credentials`). The symlink fell through `entry.file_type().is_dir()` in `fs_util::copy_dir_all`, was dereferenced by `fs::copy`, and the target's content was copied into the project. A subsequent `skillctl push` would have published the secret to the (possibly public) library — what the reporter called "round-trip path exfiltration".

2. **Delete arbitrary directories outside the project or library root** by crafting a `.skills.toml` with a malicious `destination` or `source_path` field. Both were deserialized as `PathBuf` with zero validation. Because `Path::join` lets an absolute right-hand side replace the base, `destination = "/home/user/.ssh"` made `cwd.join(...)` resolve outside the project; `..` traversal was equally unguarded. Downstream `remove_dir_all` in `replace_folder_contents` then wiped arbitrary writable directories on `skillctl pull` / `push` / `detect`. `.skills.toml` is the exact kind of file teams commit and exchange via PR; a single merged malicious PR was sufficient to weaponise the maintainer's next `skillctl pull --all`.

3. **`detect --target` accepted `..` traversal**, even though absolute paths were rejected. `--target ../../../etc` would have written outside the library root.

4. **Fork-name validation accepted `.` and `..` literally**, so a fork named `..` would have produced a `Path::join` resolving to the parent directory and `fs::rename` could have clobbered it.

## Patches

Fixed in [v0.1.2](https://github.com/umanio-agency/skillctl/releases/tag/v0.1.2):

- Symlinks inside skill folders are hard-rejected at copy time (both top-level source and any descendant entry). - `.skills.toml` `destination` and `source_path` are validated at load time and reject absolute paths, `..` components, and Windows-prefix components. - A new `path_safety::safe_join` helper is wired (defense-in-depth) at every destructive call site in `pull.rs` / `push.rs`. - `detect --target` and the interactive custom-path prompt go through the same `validate_relative_subpath` helper. - `validate_fork_name` explicitly rejects `.` and `..`.

Threat-model note: the fix is purely lexical (component-level) plus an explicit symlink check at copy time. No filesystem `canonicalize` calls were added, avoiding TOCTOU windows.

## Credit

Reported privately on 2026-05-19 by **firebaguette** via the Umanio Discord (the reporter declined GitHub credit, so this advisory carries no structured credits field).

Are you affected?

Enter the version of the package you're using.

Affected packages

crates.io / skillctl
Introduced in: 0 Fixed in: 0.1.2

Upgrade skillctl to 0.1.2 or newer (ecosystem crates.io).

References