File Browser Allows Execution of Shell Commands That Can Spawn Other Commands

Vulnerability Description

File Browser provides a file managing interface within a specified directory and it can be used to upload, delete, preview, rename and edit files. In versions on the 2.x branch prior to 2.33.10, the Command Execution feature of File Browser only allows the execution of shell command which have been predefined on a user-specific allowlist. Many tools allow the execution of arbitrary different commands, rendering this limitation void. The concrete impact depends on the commands being granted to the attacker, but the large number of standard commands allowing the execution of subcommands makes it likely that every user having the `Execute commands` permissions can exploit this vulnerability. Everyone who can exploit it will have full code execution rights with the uid of the server process. Version 2.33.10 contains a check for whether a command is allowed when using shell.

References

• https://github.com/filebrowser/filebrowser/security/advisories/GHSA-3q2w-42mv-cph4
• https://github.com/filebrowser/filebrowser/issues/5199
• https://github.com/filebrowser/filebrowser/commit/4d830f707fc4314741fd431e70c2ce50cd5a3108
• https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/distroless
• https://github.com/sbaresearch/advisories/tree/public/2025/SBA-ADV-20250326-02_Filebrowser_Shell_Commands_Can_Spawn_Other_Commands
• https://manpages.debian.org/bookworm/util-linux/prlimit.1.en.html
• https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2025-3786