The /api/_action/media/external-link endpoint allows authenticated admin users to make server-side HTTP HEAD requests to arbitrary internal IP addresses. While the parallel uploadFromURL flow validates target IPs against private/reserved ranges via FileUrlValidator, the linkURL flow only performs a URL format check (regex for http:// or https:// prefix), allowing SSRF to internal network services and cloud metadata endpoints.
The vulnerability is an inconsistency between two URL-handling flows in MediaUploadService.
Vulnerable path (external-link):
MediaUploadV2Controller::externalLink() at src/Core/Content/Media/Api/MediaUploadV2Controller.php:66 takes a user-supplied url parameter and passes it to MediaUploadService::linkURL() at src/Core/Content/Media/Upload/MediaUploadService.php:134.
linkURL() calls getContentSizeFromValidExternalUrl($url) at line 159, which only validates via validateExternalUrl():
// src/Core/Content/Media/Upload/MediaUploadService.php:207-212
public static function validateExternalUrl(string $url): void
{
if (!preg_match('/^https?:\/\/.+/', $url)) {
throw MediaException::invalidUrl($url);
}
}
Then makes a server-side HEAD request with no IP filtering:
// src/Core/Content/Media/Upload/MediaUploadService.php:292-300
private function getContentSizeFromValidExternalUrl(string $url): int
{
$this->validateExternalUrl($url);
$headers = $this->httpClient->request('HEAD', $url)->getHeaders();
if (!\array_key_exists('content-length', $headers)) {
throw MediaException::fileNotFound($url);
}
return (int) $headers['content-length'][0];
}
Protected path (upload_by_url):
In contrast, uploadFromURL uses FileFetcher::fetchFromURL() which calls FileUrlValidator::isValid():
// src/Core/Content/Media/File/FileFetcher.php:64
if ($this->enableUrlValidation && !$this->fileUrlValidator->isValid($url)) {
throw MediaException::illegalUrl($url);
}
FileUrlValidator::isValid() resolves the hostname via gethostbyname() and validates the IP against private and reserved ranges using filter_var() with FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE. This protection is entirely absent from the linkURL flow.
An authenticated admin user can:
169.254.169.254 reveal whether cloud metadata endpoints exist and leak content-length valuesfileSize field stored in the database reflects the content-length header from internal servicesImpact is limited to information disclosure via HEAD requests. The admin authentication requirement (PR:H) reduces exploitability, but in multi-tenant or compromised-credential scenarios this allows network reconnaissance from the server's perspective.
Apply FileUrlValidator to the linkURL flow, consistent with the uploadFromURL flow. In MediaUploadService:
// src/Core/Content/Media/Upload/MediaUploadService.php
// Add constructor dependency:
private readonly FileUrlValidatorInterface $fileUrlValidator;
// In getContentSizeFromValidExternalUrl(), add IP validation:
private function getContentSizeFromValidExternalUrl(string $url): int
{
$this->validateExternalUrl($url);
if (!$this->fileUrlValidator->isValid($url)) {
throw MediaException::illegalUrl($url);
}
$headers = $this->httpClient->request('HEAD', $url)->getHeaders();
if (!\array_key_exists('content-length', $headers)) {
throw MediaException::fileNotFound($url);
}
return (int) $headers['content-length'][0];
}
Additionally, consider setting max_redirects: 0 on the HttpClient request to prevent redirect-based SSRF bypasses.
{
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-06-04T19:36:07Z",
"severity": "MODERATE",
"nvd_published_at": null,
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-918"
]
}