Craft CMS has a potential information disclosure vulnerability in preview tokens
Impact
Craft CMS has a CSRF issue in the preview token endpoint at /actions/preview/create-token. The endpoint accepts an attacker-supplied previewToken.
Source excerpt · OSVBecause the action does not require POST and does not enforce a CSRF token, an attacker can force a logged-in victim editor to mint a preview token chosen by the attacker.
Affected packages
Start with the recorded fix for your release branch. Check your installed version and test compatibility before upgrading. Fixing this advisory does not rule out other vulnerabilities in the release.
| Affected range | Recorded fix |
|---|---|
| From 4.0.0-RC1 before 4.17.3Ecosystem versions | 4.17.3 |
| From 5.0.0-RC1 before 5.9.7Ecosystem versions | 5.9.7 |
Version evidence: OSV · GHSA-vg3j-hpm9-8v5v
View original version evidence (388 explicit versions)
Original source description
Summary
Craft CMS has a CSRF issue in the preview token endpoint at /actions/preview/create-token. The endpoint accepts an attacker-supplied previewToken.
Because the action does not require POST and does not enforce a CSRF token, an attacker can force a logged-in victim editor to mint a preview token chosen by the attacker.
That token can then be used by the attacker (without authentication) to access previewed/unpublished content tied to the victim’s authorized preview scope.
Preconditions
- Victim is logged in to Craft control panel.
- Victim has active preview authorization in session for target content (e.g., opened/edited an entry).
- The attacker must know the target’s
canonicalIdand public URL path of that entry.
1) Attacker prepares a fixed token
Use any 32-character value, for example:
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
2) CSRF victim into minting that token
Send the victim a link (or top-level redirect) such as:
https://TARGET/actions/preview/create-token?elementType=craft%5Celements%5CEntry&canonicalId=123&siteId=1&previewToken=aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa&redirect=https%3A%2F%2FTARGET%2F
If the victim is logged in and authorized for previewElement:123, Craft creates that exact token.
3) Attacker accesses preview content unauthenticated
curl -i 'https://TARGET/news/known-entry-slug?token=aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'
Expected vulnerable behavior:
- Response renders preview/unpublished state (draft/provisional context), not just normal public content.
Impact
- CSRF-based minting of attacker-known preview tokens.
- Unauthorized access to draft/provisional/revision content via token replay.
- Stealthy one-click exploitation against logged-in editors/admins.
- No dependency on forwarded-host poisoning.