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Kirby: File upload permissions are not checked during processing of chunk data

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jul 15, 2026 in getkirby/kirby • Updated Aug 31, 2026

Package

composer getkirby/cms (Composer)

Affected versions

>= 5.0.0, < 5.5.2

Patched versions

5.5.2

Description

TL;DR

This vulnerability affects all Kirby sites where users of a particular role have access to the REST API (access.panel permission is enabled) but no permission to upload any kind of file (files.create, files.replace and user/users.update permissions are all disabled).

It was possible to fill up the temporary directory for chunked uploads with unfinished chunks even as a user without any upload permission.

This vulnerability is of high severity for affected sites.

Your Kirby sites are not affected if you intend all users of your site to be able to upload files. The vulnerability can only be exploited by authenticated users. It was not possible to bypass the actual permission checks for any files that end up in the content or site/accounts folders.

Introduction

Missing authorization allows authenticated users to perform actions they are not intended to have access to.

The effects of missing authorization can include unauthorized access to sensitive information as well as unauthorized changes to content or system information.

Affected components

Kirby's REST API provides routes to upload files, specifically to create content files, replace existing content files and to create and replace user avatars.

Each upload route takes either full file upload requests or chunked upload requests that can be continued in subsequent requests.
During a chunked upload, the incomplete state of the uploaded file is stored in a temporary directory until the last chunk completes the file. At this time, the final permission and business logic checks are performed before the complete file is moved to its final destination.

Impact

In affected releases, the chunk upload handler did not check for the user's file upload permissions before storing incomplete chunk data in the temporary directory.

This allowed attackers without upload permissions to upload multiple large files in chunks. If the final chunk was never provided, Kirby would keep the incomplete files for 24 hours. This could cause attacker-controlled storage consumption until the temporary files were automatically cleaned up or manually removed, potentially preventing other users from uploading files, or site logic from storing data.

Patches

The problem has been patched in Kirby 5.5.2. Please update this or a later version to fix the vulnerability.

In all of the mentioned releases, we have added preflight checks to the upload chunk processor that verify the relevant system permission before storing the chunk data in the temporary directory.

Credits

Thanks to @alcls01111 for responsibly reporting the identified issue.

References

@bastianallgeier bastianallgeier published to getkirby/kirby Jul 15, 2026
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Aug 31, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Aug 31, 2026
Reviewed Aug 31, 2026
Last updated Aug 31, 2026

Severity

High

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 v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Attack Requirements None
Privileges Required Low
User interaction None
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability High
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability None

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector: This metric reflects the context by which vulnerability exploitation is possible. This metric value (and consequently the resulting severity) will be larger the more remote (logically, and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerable system. The assumption is that the number of potential attackers for a vulnerability that could be exploited from across a network is larger than the number of potential attackers that could exploit a vulnerability requiring physical access to a device, and therefore warrants a greater severity.
Attack Complexity: This metric captures measurable actions that must be taken by the attacker to actively evade or circumvent existing built-in security-enhancing conditions in order to obtain a working exploit. These are conditions whose primary purpose is to increase security and/or increase exploit engineering complexity. A vulnerability exploitable without a target-specific variable has a lower complexity than a vulnerability that would require non-trivial customization. This metric is meant to capture security mechanisms utilized by the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: This metric captures the prerequisite deployment and execution conditions or variables of the vulnerable system that enable the attack. These differ from security-enhancing techniques/technologies (ref Attack Complexity) as the primary purpose of these conditions is not to explicitly mitigate attacks, but rather, emerge naturally as a consequence of the deployment and execution of the vulnerable system.
Privileges Required: This metric describes the level of privileges an attacker must possess prior to successfully exploiting the vulnerability. The method by which the attacker obtains privileged credentials prior to the attack (e.g., free trial accounts), is outside the scope of this metric. Generally, self-service provisioned accounts do not constitute a privilege requirement if the attacker can grant themselves privileges as part of the attack.
User interaction: This metric captures the requirement for a human user, other than the attacker, to participate in the successful compromise of the vulnerable system. This metric determines whether the vulnerability can be exploited solely at the will of the attacker, or whether a separate user (or user-initiated process) must participate in some manner.
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the VULNERABLE SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Missing Authorization

The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-71415

GHSA ID

GHSA-67mx-6wf2-92xp

Source code

Credits

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