Shopware vulnerable to path traversal via Plugin upload
Impact
Malicious actors can exploit this vulnerability to write files within arbitrary directories on the filesystem of the Shopware web container. This could allow them to gain persistent shell access by uploading a PHP-shell file to an accessible folder.
It is important to note that this vulnerability is only present on on-premises installation of Shopware and not present on the SaaS installation due to additional security checks being implemented on the uploaded plugin files.
Description
A path traversal vulnerability allows malicious actors to access files and folders that are outside the folder structure accessible to the affected function. This vulnerability occurs when an application uses unfiltered user input to point to the path of a specific file and retrieve it. This can result in gaining read/write access to sensitive information, application code, back-end systems and other (critical) files on the operating system. In certain cases, it is even possible to store arbitrary files outside the relevant directory structure on the server in order to gain access to the server.
Applicability
The Plugin upload function in use by the Shopware application is vulnerable to path traversal. Within the on-premises version of the Shopware application users are able to extend the functionality of the application by installing ‘plugins’ also referred to as ‘apps’ or ‘extensions’. These plugins can be installed using the official store or by uploading a zip file containing the required files. To prevent path traversal the Shopware application implements a check that effectively prohibits files containing ‘..’ characters from being uploaded. During review of the source code, it was noticed that the check for the prohibited characters was only performed from the third entry (index 2) of the uploaded Zip file. This means that the second entry (index 1) within the Zip file can contain path traversal characters and thus allows files to be written in directories outside of the intended plugins folder.
To exploit this vulnerability, an admin account with permissions to upload plugins, is required.
Reproduction
To reproduce this vulnerability, the steps below can be followed.
- Log in to an on-premises Shopware application with an admin account with permissions to upload plugins.
- Create a malicious Zip file using the script provided in evidence 5.
- Upload the generated malicious Zip file as a new plugin within the application
- Access the filesystem of the Shopware application
- Navigate to the path below: /var/www/html/custom/apps
- Notice that an ‘evil.php’ file has been extracted within this folder.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
shopware / platform
|
6.7.0.0 | 6.7.3.1 |
|
shopware / platform
|
- | 6.6.10.7 |
|
shopware / core
|
6.7.0.0 | 6.7.3.1 |
|
shopware / core
|
- | 6.6.10.7 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
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