Phishing attack vulnerability by uploading malicious HTML file
Impact
Phishing attack vulnerability by uploading malicious files. A malicious user could upload a HTML file to Parse Server via its public API. That HTML file would then be accessible at the internet domain at which Parse Server is hosted. The URL of the the uploaded HTML could be shared for phishing attacks. The HTML page may seem legitimate because it is served under the internet domain where Parse Server is hosted, which may be the same as a company's official website domain.
An additional security issue arises when the Parse JavaScript SDK is used. The SDK stores sessions in the internet browser's local storage, which usually restricts data access depending on the internet domain. A malicious HTML file could contain a script that retrieves the user's session token from local storage and then share it with the attacker.
Patches
The fix adds a new Parse Server option fileUpload.fileExtensions to restrict file upload on Parse Server by file extension. It is recommended to restrict file upload for HTML file extensions, which this fix disables by default. If an app requires upload of files with HTML file extensions, the option can be set to ['.*'] or another custom value to override the default.
References
Affected software
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| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm package | parse-server | < 5.4.4, >= 6.0.0, < 6.1.1 | 5.4.4, 6.1.1 |
References
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-434- Platform
- npm
- Package
parse-server- Disclosed
- 31.05.2023
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 10:22
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-9prm-jqwx-45x9 - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: parse-server
All published vulnerabilities of this package (npm package), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
- Total entries
- 116
- First → latest
- 06.2019 06.2026
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- Critical 17
- High 49
- Medium 40
- Low 10
Disclosures per year
- 2019: 2
- 2020: 4
- 2021: 4
- 2022: 12
- 2023: 5
- 2024: 4
- 2025: 6
- 2026: 79
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