fix(taint): a field is attacker input only when a caller feeds it request data

The field join (task 5.11) seeded every parameter of every method in the
file, so every setter made its field a source. Adjudicated on PMPro, six of
eight false SQL injections in a 1-in-5 sample were object fields holding
database or internal values ($this->membership_id, $morder->user_id).

A parameter now seeds the join only where some call site passes it request
data without a sanitizer on the way (memoised per method and index); a
request source read in the file still seeds as before. A real-Joern control
covers both directions -- a setter only given a constant stays quiet, a
constructor handed $_GET (the CVE-2023-6559 shape) is still found -- and
fails on the old query with exactly the PMPro false positive.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01EmM1j46qgKMh3zqD1QMwEo
This commit is contained in:
Marius Ciepluch
2026-09-23 21:47:41 +02:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5.5
parent faf4f643df
commit 6ebbc89d64
2 changed files with 98 additions and 3 deletions
+37 -3
View File
@@ -81,7 +81,11 @@
// field join's flow queries. Keyed by the parameters the answer depends on, so one family's seeds never
// answer another's.
val methodsByFile = scala.collection.mutable.Map.empty[String, List[io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.Method]]
val seedsByFile = scala.collection.mutable.Map.empty[(String, String, String), List[io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.CfgNode]]
val seedsByFile = scala.collection.mutable.Map.empty[(String, String, String, String), List[io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.CfgNode]]
// Whether any caller hands a method's parameter request data, per (sources, sanitizers, method, index); and
// the request-source calls themselves, which every such question starts from.
val callerFedMemo = scala.collection.mutable.Map.empty[(String, String, String, Int), Boolean]
val sourceCallMemo = scala.collection.mutable.Map.empty[String, List[io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.Call]]
val fieldTaintMemo = scala.collection.mutable.Map.empty[(String, String, String, String, String), Boolean]
val hookKeysMemo = scala.collection.mutable.Map.empty[(String, String, String), Set[String]]
@@ -268,14 +272,44 @@
// Framework sources are untrusted wherever they appear. Parameters are untrusted only where the caller has
// said this region is an entry point -- the same contract `parameterNodes` carries, and for the same
// reason: an arbitrary helper's parameters carry whatever its caller happened to have.
//
// A parameter seeds the FIELD join only where some CALLER hands it request data. Counting every parameter of
// every method in the file made each setter a source: `$morder->user_id = $user_id` in a gateway's hook
// callback, `$this->membership_id = ...` loaded from the order's own row. Adjudicated on PMPro 2026-09-23,
// six of eight false SQL injections in a 1-in-5 sample were exactly that -- object fields holding database
// or internal values, read as attacker input. MW WP Form's CVE-2023-6559, which the join exists for, is the
// case the rule keeps: its constructor's `$attachments` is passed the uploaded files by the controller.
def requestSourceCalls: List[io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.Call] =
sourceCallMemo.getOrElseUpdate(sourcesS, cpg.call.filter(c => sourcePatterns.exists(p => c.code.contains(p))).l)
def fedByCaller(
m: io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.Method,
param: io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.MethodParameterIn
): Boolean =
callerFedMemo.getOrElseUpdate(
(sourcesS, sanitizersS, m.fullName, param.index), {
val sources = requestSourceCalls
sources.nonEmpty && m.callIn.l.exists { call =>
call.argument.l.filter(_.argumentIndex == param.index).exists { arg =>
arg.ast.isCall.exists(c => sourcePatterns.exists(p => c.code.contains(p))) ||
arg.start.reachableByFlows(sources.iterator).l.exists(f =>
!f.elements.map(_.code).l.exists(code => mentionsToken(code, sanitizerNames))
)
}
}
}
)
def seedsIn(fileName: String) =
seedsByFile.getOrElseUpdate(
(sourcesS, paramSrc, fileName), {
(sourcesS, sanitizersS, paramSrc, fileName), {
val methods = methodsIn(fileName)
val framework: List[io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.CfgNode] =
methods.flatMap(_.ast.isCall.filter(c => sourcePatterns.exists(p => c.code.contains(p))).l)
val params: List[io.shiftleft.codepropertygraph.generated.nodes.CfgNode] =
if (parameterSources == "true") methods.flatMap(_.parameter.l) else Nil
if (parameterSources == "true")
methods.flatMap(m => m.parameter.l.filter(p => p.name != "this" && fedByCaller(m, p)))
else Nil
framework ++ params
}
)
+61
View File
@@ -679,3 +679,64 @@ def test_context_locations_outside_the_changed_files_are_summarised(tmp_path: Pa
assert kept == [r for r in whole if r["path"] == "b.js"], "the changed file's locations must be unchanged"
assert len(summary) == 1 and summary[0]["paths"] == sorted({r["path"] for r in whole if r["path"] != "b.js"})
assert summary[0]["locations"] == len(whole) - len(kept)
@pytest.mark.skipif(_joern() is None, reason="joern is not installed on this machine")
def test_a_field_is_attacker_input_only_when_a_caller_feeds_it_request_data(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
"""The field join's parameter seeds are the parameters some caller passes request data.
Counting every parameter of every method made each setter a source: on PMPro six of eight false SQL
injections in an adjudicated sample were object fields holding database or internal values. The shape the
join exists for -- MW WP Form's CVE-2023-6559, a constructor handed the uploads by the controller -- must
still be found.
"""
from openultrasast.cpg.backend import extract_payload
frontend = __import__("shutil").which("php2cpg")
if frontend is None:
pytest.skip("php2cpg is not installed")
src = tmp_path / "src"
src.mkdir()
(src / "order.php").write_text(
"<?php\nclass Order {\n public $user_id;\n function set_user($user_id) { $this->user_id = $user_id; }\n"
' function load() { global $wpdb; return $wpdb->get_var("SELECT x FROM t WHERE id = \'" . $this->user_id . "\'"); }\n}\n'
"function internal_caller() { $o = new Order(); $o->set_user(42); return $o->load(); }\n"
)
(src / "mailer.php").write_text(
"<?php\nclass Mailer {\n private $attachments;\n function __construct($attachments) { $this->attachments = $attachments; }\n"
' function send() { global $wpdb; return $wpdb->query("DELETE FROM t WHERE f = \'" . $this->attachments . "\'"); }\n}\n'
"function controller() { $m = new Mailer($_GET['files']); return $m->send(); }\n"
)
cpg = tmp_path / "cpg.bin"
built = subprocess.run([frontend, str(src), "-o", str(cpg)], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=600, check=False)
if not cpg.is_file():
pytest.skip(f"could not build a sample cpg: {(built.stderr or '')[-200:]}")
common = {"sources": "$_GET", "sinks": "$wpdb->get_var,$wpdb->query", "parameterSources": "true"}
requests = tmp_path / "requests.json"
requests.write_text(
json.dumps(
{"internal": {**common, "function": "load", "file": "order.php"}, "fed": {**common, "function": "send", "file": "mailer.php"}}
)
)
done = subprocess.run(
[
_joern() or "joern",
"--script",
str((QUERIES / "taint.sc").resolve()),
"--param",
f"cpgFile={cpg}",
"--param",
f"requestsFile={requests}",
],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
timeout=900,
check=False,
cwd=str(tmp_path),
)
assert done.returncode == 0, (done.stderr or done.stdout or "")[-500:]
payload = extract_payload(done.stdout or "")
assert isinstance(payload, dict)
flows = {rid: [r for r in payload[rid] if isinstance(r, dict) and r.get("sourceKind")] for rid in ("internal", "fed")}
assert not flows["internal"], f"a setter only ever given a constant made its field attacker input: {flows['internal']}"
assert flows["fed"], "a constructor handed $_GET data no longer carries it through the field to the sink"