SiYuan: The session-cookie signing key (Conf.CookieKey) is returned to anonymous readers by /api/system/getConf

**CVE:** This vulnerability corresponds to [CVE-2026-72794](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72794). ### Summary `/api/system/getConf` returns `Conf.CookieKey`, the key used to sign the server's session cookies in its response body. The endpoint is registered with `CheckAuth` only, so the field reaches the publish `RoleReader` token and the anonymous account when `Publish.Auth.Enable` is `false`. The configuration-export endpoint in the same file strips this exact field before returning config, so the project already treats it as secret. The reader-facing masking path does not. ### Details | Item | Detail | |---|---| | Route | `kernel/api/router.go:70` `POST /api/system/getConf` → `model.CheckAuth` → `getConf` | | Middleware | `CheckAuth` only — no `CheckReadonly`, no `CheckAdminRole` | | Leaked field | `AppConf.CookieKey`, serialized as `cookieKey` | | Purpose of the field | Signing key for the `siyuan` session cookie | **The field survives every stage of the masking chain.** `getConf` masks through `GetMaskedConf()` → `HideConfSecret()` (non-administrators) → `FilterConfByPublishIgnore()` (readers) → the browser-side System-path strip. `CookieKey` is removed by none of them: - `GetMaskedConf` masks `UserData`, `MCPOAuth` and `AccessAuthCode` only. - `HideConfSecret` nulls `AI`, `Api`, `Flashcard`, `ServerAddrs`, `Publish`, `Repo`, `Sync`, `Secrets`, `Variables` and the System paths. It contains no reference to `CookieKey`. - `FilterConfByPublishIgnore` touches `UILayout` only. - The browser-side strip removes System paths only. **The key is live, not vestigial.** It is passed straight into the session store at startup: ``` cli/cmd/serve.go:67 go server.Serve(false, model.Conf.CookieKey) kernel/server/serve.go:152 sessionStore = cookie.NewStore([]byte(cookieKey)) kernel/server/serve.go:159 ginServer.Use(sessions.Sessions("siyuan", sessionStore)) ``` `gin-contrib/sessions/cookie.NewStore` constructed with a single key uses that key as the `gorilla/securecookie` HMAC key. The `siyuan` session cookie is therefore signed with the value the endpoint hands out. An attacker holding it can mint and modify session cookies that the server accepts as authentic. **Guarded sibling, in the same file.** `exportConf` (`kernel/api/system.go:299`) clones the configuration before returning it and explicitly clears both secrets: ``` kernel/api/system.go:360 clonedConf.CookieKey = "" clonedConf.NotebookCrypto = nil ``` The project has already classified `CookieKey` as a value that must not leave the server. The `getConf` masking path omits the same field. **Ceiling is environment-dependent, floor is not.** Escalating a forged session to administrator additionally requires the forged `SessionData` to carry the matching `AccessAuthCode`, which `GetMaskedConf` does mask or the instance to have no access-auth code configured, which is a common deployment. The unconditional impact, present on every instance, is the disclosure of a persistent cryptographic secret to an unauthenticated party together with the cookie-forgery capability that follows from it. Rotating the key invalidates all existing sessions, so this is not a secret that can be quietly refreshed. ### Proof of Concept Precondition: publish mode enabled (default port 6808); anonymous when `Publish.Auth.Enable` is `false`, otherwise any publish reader account. ``` POST http://127.0.0.1:6808/api/system/getConf {} → 200 The response body's conf object contains a cookieKey field holding the server's session-signing key in cleartext. ``` Differential check against the endpoint that does strip it: ``` POST http://127.0.0.1:6808/api/system/exportConf → cookieKey is empty, notebookCrypto is null ``` The same value is withheld by one endpoint and returned by the other. ### Impact An anonymous reader in publish mode or any publish `RoleReader` obtains the server's session-cookie signing key. This is a persistent cryptographic secret whose disclosure cannot be remediated without invalidating every active session. Possession of the key permits forging and tampering with `siyuan` session cookies that the server will validate as authentic. On instances with no access-auth code configured, or where a forged session's contents otherwise satisfy the server's checks, this extends to authenticating as a privileged user. ### Suggested fix Clear `CookieKey` in `HideConfSecret` for all non-administrator responses. The more durable fix is to route non-administrator `getConf` through the `exportConf` cloner, which already handles `CookieKey`, `NotebookCrypto`, `Account`, `Stat`, `System.ID`, `Export.PandocBin` and the AI keys replacing the current blocklist, which fails open on every field nobody thought to add, with the allowlist-style cloner the project already maintains.

Source published

4 Sep 2026 21:12:26 UTC

Source modified

10 Sep 2026 15:25:33 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:19:41 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

Publisher rating · HIGH