Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition in league/flysystem
Published 29 Jun 2021 · Updated 8 Jul 2026
Affected packages
- Affected
- <1.1.4
- Fixed in
- 1.1.4
composer require league/flysystem:^1.1.4- Affected
- >=2.0.0 <2.1.1
- Fixed in
- 2.1.1
composer require league/flysystem:^2.1.1Details
Impact
The whitespace normalisation using in 1.x and 2.x removes any unicode whitespace. Under certain specific conditions this could potentially allow a malicious user to execute code remotely.
The conditions:
- A user is allowed to supply the path or filename of an uploaded file.
- The supplied path or filename is not checked against unicode chars.
- The supplied pathname checked against an extension deny-list, not an allow-list.
- The supplied path or filename contains a unicode whitespace char in the extension.
- The uploaded file is stored in a directory that allows PHP code to be executed.
Given these conditions are met a user can upload and execute arbitrary code on the system under attack.
Patches
The unicode whitespace removal has been replaced with a rejection (exception).
The library has been patched in:
- 1.x: https://github.com/thephpleague/flysystem/commit/f3ad69181b8afed2c9edf7be5a2918144ff4ea32
- 2.x: https://github.com/thephpleague/flysystem/commit/a3c694de9f7e844b76f9d1b61296ebf6e8d89d74
Workarounds
For 1.x users, upgrade to 1.1.4. For 2.x users, upgrade to 2.1.1.
Is GHSA-9f46-5r25-5wfm in any of your client repos?
Checking one package by hand is fine. Checking it across forty client projects is not. NPMscan reads the lockfiles in every GitHub repo you pick, finds each project with an affected league/flysystem, and gives you the command that fixes it.
References
- Linkgithub.com/thephpleague/flysystem/security/advisories/GHSA-9f46-5r25-5wfm
- Advisorynvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32708
- Linkgithub.com/thephpleague/flysystem/commit/a3c694de9f7e844b76f9d1b61296ebf6e8d89d74
- Linkgithub.com/thephpleague/flysystem/commit/f3ad69181b8afed2c9edf7be5a2918144ff4ea32
- Linkgithub.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/league/flysystem/CVE-2021-32708.yaml
- Packagegithub.com/thephpleague/flysystem
- Linklists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NWPTENBYKI2IG47GI4DHAACLNRLTWUR5
- Linklists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RNZSWK4GOMJOOHKLZEOE5AQSLC4DNCRZ
- Linkpackagist.org/packages/league/flysystem
Advisory data from OSV.dev (opens OSV.dev in a new tab), refreshed daily.