Summary
The unauthenticated GET /api/app-images/logo endpoint reflects a user-supplied color query parameter into the body of an SVG document via strings.ReplaceAll with no escaping. The substitution lands inside a <style> element of the embedded logo.svg, allowing an attacker to close the style block and inject executable <script> content. Because the response is served as image/svg+xml and Arcane sets no Content-Security-Policy or X-Content-Type-Options headers, navigating a logged-in admin victim to a crafted URL executes attacker-controlled JavaScript in Arcane's origin and rides the victim's HttpOnly JWT cookie to fully compromise the admin account.
Details
The route is registered in backend/internal/huma/handlers/appimages.go:53-61 with an explicitly empty security requirement, marking it as public:
huma.Register(api, huma.Operation{
OperationID: "get-logo",
Method: http.MethodGet,
Path: "/app-images/logo",
...
Security: []map[string][]string{}, // explicit: no auth
}, h.GetLogo)
backend/internal/huma/middleware/auth.go:209-213 honors the empty Security value by returning reqs.isRequired == false and short-circuiting with next(ctx), so no JWT/API-key check runs.
GetLogoInput.Color (appimages.go:23) is declared with no validation tags:
type GetLogoInput struct {
Full bool `query:"full" default:"false" ...`
Color string `query:"color" doc:"Optional accent color override ..."`
}
The handler passes the value straight through getImageWithColor → ApplicationImagesService.GetImageWithColor → applyAccentColorToSVG (backend/internal/services/app_images_service.go:79-105):
svgStr = strings.ReplaceAll(svgStr, "fill:#6D28D9", fmt.Sprintf("fill:%s", accentColor))
svgStr = strings.ReplaceAll(svgStr, "fill:#6d28d9", fmt.Sprintf("fill:%s", accentColor))
The bundled backend/resources/images/logo.svg contains:
<style id="style1" type="text/css">.st0{fill:#6d28d9}</style>
so a color value like red}</style><script>fetch('/api/users',...)</script><style>x{ produces a valid SVG that closes the <style> element and embeds a <script> element. The response Content-Type is image/svg+xml (from pkg/utils/image/image_util.go), and a grep of the backend confirms no Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, or framing headers are emitted on any route.
Browsers execute scripts in SVG documents loaded as top-level navigations or via <iframe src=…> / window.open(…). The execution context is origin(arcane-host), so the victim's __Host-token / token HttpOnly JWT cookie (recognized by extractTokenFromCookieHeaderInternal at auth.go:274-286) is automatically attached to subsequent same-origin fetch() calls. From there the attacker can invoke any privileged API the victim possesses — most damagingly POST /api/users to create a new admin account, after which the attacker has standalone admin access to manage Docker containers, registries, GitOps secrets, and SSH/registry credentials stored by Arcane.
Impact
- Same-origin script execution from an unauthenticated, reachable URL — only user interaction (clicking/visiting the crafted link) is required.
- Full session-riding against any authenticated user, including admins. Because Arcane manages Docker daemons, container exec, image registries, and GitOps repositories, an attacker who lands script execution as an admin victim can:
- Create persistent attacker-controlled admin accounts via
POST /api/users.
- Read/modify secrets stored in environments, registries, and Git repositories the admin can access.
- Start or exec into containers on connected Docker hosts.
- HttpOnly cookies do not mitigate the issue — cookies are auto-attached to same-origin
fetch(). Absence of CSP and X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff removes available defenses-in-depth.
Defense-in-depth — add to all responses (and especially to /api/app-images/*):
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'none'; style-src 'unsafe-inline'; img-src 'self' data: on the SVG image responses (or the most permissive policy compatible with the frontend on app routes).
- Consider serving these images with
Content-Disposition: inline and from a separate cookie-less origin to remove the same-origin session-riding primitive entirely.
Also enforce the same allowlist on the settings write path (SettingsService → AccentColor) so a stored XSS variant cannot be introduced via the settings API.
References
Summary
The unauthenticated
GET /api/app-images/logoendpoint reflects a user-suppliedcolorquery parameter into the body of an SVG document viastrings.ReplaceAllwith no escaping. The substitution lands inside a<style>element of the embeddedlogo.svg, allowing an attacker to close the style block and inject executable<script>content. Because the response is served asimage/svg+xmland Arcane sets no Content-Security-Policy orX-Content-Type-Optionsheaders, navigating a logged-in admin victim to a crafted URL executes attacker-controlled JavaScript in Arcane's origin and rides the victim's HttpOnly JWT cookie to fully compromise the admin account.Details
The route is registered in
backend/internal/huma/handlers/appimages.go:53-61with an explicitly empty security requirement, marking it as public:backend/internal/huma/middleware/auth.go:209-213honors the emptySecurityvalue by returningreqs.isRequired == falseand short-circuiting withnext(ctx), so no JWT/API-key check runs.GetLogoInput.Color(appimages.go:23) is declared with no validation tags:The handler passes the value straight through
getImageWithColor→ApplicationImagesService.GetImageWithColor→applyAccentColorToSVG(backend/internal/services/app_images_service.go:79-105):The bundled
backend/resources/images/logo.svgcontains:so a
colorvalue likered}</style><script>fetch('/api/users',...)</script><style>x{produces a valid SVG that closes the<style>element and embeds a<script>element. The response Content-Type isimage/svg+xml(frompkg/utils/image/image_util.go), and a grep of the backend confirms noContent-Security-Policy,X-Content-Type-Options, or framing headers are emitted on any route.Browsers execute scripts in SVG documents loaded as top-level navigations or via
<iframe src=…>/window.open(…). The execution context isorigin(arcane-host), so the victim's__Host-token/tokenHttpOnly JWT cookie (recognized byextractTokenFromCookieHeaderInternalatauth.go:274-286) is automatically attached to subsequent same-originfetch()calls. From there the attacker can invoke any privileged API the victim possesses — most damaginglyPOST /api/usersto create a new admin account, after which the attacker has standalone admin access to manage Docker containers, registries, GitOps secrets, and SSH/registry credentials stored by Arcane.Impact
POST /api/users.fetch(). Absence of CSP andX-Content-Type-Options: nosniffremoves available defenses-in-depth.Defense-in-depth — add to all responses (and especially to
/api/app-images/*):X-Content-Type-Options: nosniffContent-Security-Policy: default-src 'none'; style-src 'unsafe-inline'; img-src 'self' data:on the SVG image responses (or the most permissive policy compatible with the frontend on app routes).Content-Disposition: inlineand from a separate cookie-less origin to remove the same-origin session-riding primitive entirely.Also enforce the same allowlist on the settings write path (
SettingsService→AccentColor) so a stored XSS variant cannot be introduced via the settings API.References