GHSA-fx5p-f64h-93xc Opened exploitable ports in default docker-compose.yaml in go-ipfs

Impact

Allows admin API access to the IPFS node.

Who ?

This affects people running the docker-compose.yaml service in an environment where the docker host is directly attached to a public or untrusted IP. In the vulnerable version, the private API endpoint is publicly forwarded by exposing it as 0.0.0.0:5001 on the host machine.

If the host machine is hidden behind a firewall or NAT (and the LAN is trusted for NAT), this is not an immediate issue because of the protection from the firewall or NAT. That said, we still recommend users update to follow security best practices of not putting unnecessary dependency on a working firewall.

Patches

This issue is in docker-compose.yaml. Users need to replace their current docker-compose.yaml file with a version 0.12.1 or later.

There is no need to update any of the binaries. Users running previous versions like 0.12.0 or earlier can download the 0.12.1 docker-compose.yaml file. You can replace a vulnerable docker-compose.yaml file with a the new one with:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/v0.12.1/docker-compose.yaml > docker-compose.yaml

How to test if you are vulnerable

Binding check on the host

On the host machine, while IPFS is running, run as root:

netstat -lnp | grep ":5001"

The output will be a list of listeners bound to :5001. You then need to check that those listeners are private and preferably even localhost IPs. ⚠️ If this listener is on 0.0.0.0 or a public IP you are very likely vulnerable.

Remote hailing

While IPFS is running, you can try to contact the API from a remote machine. (Replace 1.2.3.4 with your node public IP. Or if you want to test in an untrusted NAT, then substitute the LAN IP instead.)

curl -X POST http://1.2.3.4:5001/api/v0/version

⚠️ If you see any json outputted (e.g., {"Commit": "<string>","Golang": "<string>","Repo": "<string>","System": "<string>","Version": "<string>"}), then you are vulnerable.

If it fails, then you are safe.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Please first read https://docs.ipfs.io/reference/http/api/ about best practices
• Ask in IPFS Discord #ipfs-chatter
• Open an issue in go-ipfs