CVE-2025-53108

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-53108 is a missing authorization vulnerability in HomeBox, a home inventory and organization system. The flaw resides in the API endpoints responsible for updating and deleting inventory item attachments. An authenticated attacker can manipulate or delete attachments belonging to other users without proper authorization checks. This could lead to unauthorized data manipulation or loss of critical inventory data. The vulnerability is patched in version 0.20.1, and there are no workarounds.

Supply Chain & Package Security

HomeBox is a Go-based application. The vulnerability is in the application's own API logic, not in a third-party package. However, users should verify the integrity of the updated package by checking checksums or signatures provided by the vendor.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The vulnerability is exploitable over the network.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions are required.
• Privileges Required (PR): Low (L) – An attacker must be authenticated.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user interaction is required.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – The vulnerability does not affect other components.
• Confidentiality (C): None (N) – No data exposure.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – Attachments can be modified or deleted.
• Availability (A): High (H) – Attachments can be deleted, causing data loss.

CVSS Score: 8.1 (High)

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic case of missing authorization (CWE-862). The API endpoints for updating and deleting inventory item attachments do not verify that the authenticated user owns the attachment or has the necessary permissions. This allows any authenticated user to modify or delete attachments belonging to other users.

The affected endpoints likely follow a pattern like:

• PUT /api/attachments/{id} – Update an attachment.
• DELETE /api/attachments/{id} – Delete an attachment.

The server fails to check if the attachment's owner matches the authenticated user's ID. An attacker can enumerate attachment IDs (e.g., sequential integers) and perform unauthorized actions.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (before 0.20.1):

func (h *Handler) UpdateAttachment(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    // No ownership check
    attachmentID := chi.URLParam(r, "id")
    // ... update attachment in database
}

Patched Code (0.20.1):

func (h *Handler) UpdateAttachment(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    userID := context.Get(r.Context(), "userID")
    attachmentID := chi.URLParam(r, "id")
    attachment := h.db.GetAttachment(attachmentID)
    if attachment.UserID != userID {
        http.Error(w, "Forbidden", http.StatusForbidden)
        return
    }
    // ... update attachment in database
}

The patch adds a check to ensure the attachment's owner matches the authenticated user.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

1. Setup: Deploy a vulnerable HomeBox instance (version < 0.20.1) with multiple users and attachments.
2. Reconnaissance: Authenticate as a low-privileged user and enumerate attachment IDs (e.g., GET /api/attachments).
3. Exploit: Send a DELETE request to /api/attachments/{id} where {id} belongs to another user.
4. Impact: The attachment is deleted without authorization.

Example Exploit (cURL):

curl -X DELETE http://target/api/attachments/42 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <attacker_token>"

Blue Team

1. Detection: Monitor API logs for DELETE or PUT requests to /api/attachments/* from users who do not own the attachment.
2. Mitigation: Apply the patch (upgrade to 0.20.1) immediately.
3. Forensics: Check database for unauthorized deletions or modifications. Look for anomalies in attachment ownership.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Log Entries: DELETE /api/attachments/{id} or PUT /api/attachments/{id} from a user who does not own the attachment.
• Database Changes: Missing or modified attachments where the user_id does not match the authenticated user.
• Network Traffic: Repeated requests to attachment endpoints with sequential IDs.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_53108_HomeBox_Missing_Auth {
    meta:
        description = "Detects missing authorization in HomeBox attachment endpoints"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2025-53108"
    strings:
        $s1 = "/api/attachments/" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "DELETE" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "PUT" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        any of ($s1) and (any of ($s2, $s3))
}

Sigma Rule

title: HomeBox Missing Authorization on Attachment Endpoints
id: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthorized DELETE or PUT requests to HomeBox attachment endpoints
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: ['DELETE', 'PUT']
        cs-uri-stem: '/api/attachments/*'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-53108 HomeBox Missing Authorization"; flow:to_server; http.method; content:"DELETE"; http.uri; content:"/api/attachments/"; nocase; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

1. Immediate: Upgrade to HomeBox version 0.20.1 or later.
2. Workarounds: None available. The only fix is to upgrade.
3. Long-term: Implement proper authorization checks on all API endpoints. Use role-based access control (RBAC) and validate ownership for all resource modifications.

Valters IT
Senior DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert