ApostropheCMS: Unauthenticated CSV import requests leave rejected uploads in the system temporary directory
CVE-2026-113658 · GHSA-qhcq-9pm2-c9w9 · published 20 Oct 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: high, CVSS score 7.5 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-113658?
Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Cursor or any AI coding tool: it runs a free Shippable scan of your project and fixes what it finds. Built with Lovable, Bolt or v0? Scan your live app. Or upload your package file.
Who is affected
apostrophe(npm) < 4.33.0
How to check
- Run
npm ls apostrophein your project to see the installed version, including copies pulled in by other packages. - Or paste your lockfile into the checker: it lists every package with a known vulnerability, this one included.
- Or run
npx shippable-dev scan localhost:3000in your project folder. It reads your lockfile and flags this vulnerability along with every other known one.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex: it checks your lockfiles for this and upgrades it.
- Upgrade
apostropheto 4.33.0 or later, commit the lockfile and redeploy. - If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
### Summary
A rejected upload can remain in the operating system temporary directory.
Multer writes the file before its extension is checked, and the rejection path does not remove that temporary file. An unauthenticated requester can repeat this with large files and steadily consume temporary disk space.
### Details
The endpoint is:
```text
POST /api/v1/@apostrophecms/rich-text-widget/generate-csv-table
```
In `packages/apostrophe/modules/@apostrophecms/rich-text-widget/lib/apiRoutes.js`, Multer first writes the upload to `os.tmpdir()`. The handler then rejects filenames whose extension is not `csv`, but there is no cleanup of the Multer file on this error path.
The route does not require an authenticated user. A normal CSRF cookie is sufficient.
During testing, the request returned HTTP 400 with `Only csv files are supported`, while the complete uploaded content remained in a randomly named file in the configured temporary directory after the response.
### Relationship to prior public work
I reviewed [PR #5013](https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/pull/5013), which migrated the Rich Text CSV upload path from `connect-multiparty` to Multer. This report concerns cleanup after that migration: the rejected Multer file remains on disk, a behavior not described in the PR or its review discussion.
### POC
Create a small test file. A larger file can be used to demonstrate disk growth, but 1 MiB is enough for a safe local reproduction:
```bash
dd if=/dev/zero of=rejected.txt bs=1M count=1
```
Obtain the normal site cookies and send the rejected upload:
```bash
curl -c cookies.txt 'http://127.0.0.1:3000/' > /dev/null
curl -i -b cookies.txt \
-F 'file=@rejected.txt;filename=rejected.txt;type=text/plain' \
'http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/v1/@apostrophecms/rich-text-widget/generate-csv-table'
```
The response is HTTP 400. Compare the contents of the system temporary directory before and after the request:
```bash
ls -lt /tmp
```
A new randomly named file remains present and contains the uploaded bytes.
No login is required. Repeating the multipart request creates additional persistent temporary files.
### Impact
A remote unauthenticated attacker can fill the partition used by the operating system temporary directory. Once that partition is exhausted, Apostrophe and unrelated services on the same host may fail to upload files, create temporary data, or continue operating normally.
The attack requires only repeated HTTP requests and the stored files remain after each rejected response.
Check your whole app
Dependencies are only half of it. Free and read-only: before you push, run npx shippable-dev scan localhost:3000 in your project folder, no account needed. For your live app, you prove it's yours with a one-line tag first.
References
- github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/security/advisories/GHSA-qhcq-9pm2-c9w9
- github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/commit/9500b8b0e1d630d5e07fbb5fd2c25ed0943845ce
- github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/commit/f84fd41cbf6c22eb8d0008fc9c25df1f7130b350
- github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/releases/tag/apostrophe@4.33.0
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-qhcq-9pm2-c9w9
Merged from GitHub Advisory Database. Last updated 23 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON