CyberRota Analysis
AI-GeneratedAuthenticated backend users of Winter CMS versions up to 1.2.12 can exploit a vulnerability in the LESS parser to disclose arbitrary files, including sensitive configuration files like the .env file, by injecting malicious @import directives. This flaw, which allows for both absolute path and directory traversal attacks, poses a risk primarily to systems with users assigned the Developer role, as they have the necessary permissions to exploit the vulnerability. Organizations using affected versions should prioritize upgrading to version 1.2.13 to mitigate this risk.
Public Exploit Signal
A public exploit, PoC, GitHub repository or Metasploit reference was detected for this CVE.
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Original NVD Description
Winter CMS is a content management system built on the Laravel PHP framework. In versions up to and including 1.2.12, authenticated backend users can disclose arbitrary files readable by the PHP process by injecting @import (inline) directives into LESS source that the backend compiles, because the LESS parser was instantiated without a safe import resolver and fell back to the raw attacker-supplied path when no allowed root matched. The flaw is reachable through four entry points that share the same root cause: the Brand Settings custom_css field, the Editor Settings html_custom_styles field, the Mail Brand Settings colour-picker fields whose values are concatenated into LESS source without escaping, and theme .less, .sass, and .scss assets compiled when served. Both absolute paths and .. traversal outside the asset's own tree were accepted, so an attacker could read any file the web process can access, most significantly the application .env file and the APP_KEY and database credentials it contains. Exploitation requires a backend account holding one of the associated permissions, which are assigned by default to the built-in Developer role. This issue is fixed in version 1.2.13.