php / php/php-src

Set register_argc_argv to Off by default

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#12,344 9 comentarios 3 reacciones 0 asignados Ver en GitHub

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Feature Status: Needs Triage
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Descripción

(I'm not reporting this as a security issue as it's about a setting "[...] not recommended for production - ex. error reporting to output" or "[...] known to be insecure".)

Many PHP CLI tools are shipped in the form of Phar files (e.g. Composer), and while never really recommended, some users tend to put these archives under the web root (tutorials from shared hosting providers, when you need per-project Composer releases, etc.). On distributions like Debian and Ubuntu, Apache is treating these files as PHP scripts.

Since these scripts use $_SERVER['argc'] to find out how they are invoked and parse their arguments, direct access to these files is not a problem when register_argc_argv is set to Off. Looking into this topic, I noticed that PHP is still shipped with register_argc_argv set to On by default:

https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/21d9fd3bc1ccf376438e4b5c38bb1945ae3bfe8c/main/main.c#L709

The recommended default configuration for the production environment and shipped with most distributions set it to Off–note that it only mentions performance reasons and not security:

https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/21d9fd3bc1ccf376438e4b5c38bb1945ae3bfe8c/php.ini-production#L677-L690

There are still environments in which this setting can be set to On, either involuntarily by keeping the development configuration or voluntarily by manually setting it. For instance, the main PHP Docker image for PHP has it set to On.

We can then assume that there is a non-zero chance of deployments processing Phar files as PHP scripts and with this setting left to its default value, introducing potential vulnerabilities. I've already reached out to Composer and they now refuse to run in non-CLI SAPIs if register_argc_argv is On (CVE-2023-43655).

Outside of the risk caused by Phar files, register_argc_argv is also a known "trick" to exploit limited Local File Inclusion vulnerabilities in a generic way in Docker php images, using /usr/local/lib/php/pearcmd.php (i.e. 2linephp by @w181496 during Balsn CTF 2021). This exploitation method was also shared with a wider audience in a video of @JohnHammond (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq2rq50IMSQ).

I think it would be great to set register_argc_argv to Off by default, keeping it to On only for these SAPIs: embed, phpdbg and cli. I'm not sure about litespeed but from what I'm reading in the code, it seems important too. The documentation in php.ini could also mention the potential security risks caused by this setting.

I'll be happy to work on the PR if this sounds like something that could happen to be merged, let me know!

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Línea de trabajo

Comience revisando el valor predeterminado de register_argc_argv en main/main.c y las indicaciones correspondientes en php.ini-production. Trace cómo se aplica la configuración en las SAPIs embed, phpdbg, cli y litespeed, y determine después el impacto en la compatibilidad de cambiar el valor predeterminado. Se considera completado cuando el comportamiento predeterminado y la documentación de php.ini reflejan de forma coherente la política de SAPI aceptada.

Escrito por el modelo de indexación a partir del texto del issue.

Evaluación

Stack tecnológico
c, php
Área
backend, security
Tipo de issue
Nueva funcionalidad
Dificultad
5/5
Tiempo estimado
Más de una semana
Estado de actividad
Estancado
Claridad
Bastante claro
Aptitud para principiantes
32/100

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