UBUNTU-CVE-2026-122053: Medium severity ubuntu/symfony vulnerability
The Symfony Serializer component ObjectNormalizer treats any attribute name containing . (and, from Symfony 6.4, [) as a writable property path, allowing untrusted input to modify properties of nested objects and bypass their #[Ignore] metadata attribute in Symfony versions 5.4.41 prior to 5.4.56, 6.4.9 prior to 6.4.50, 7.0.9 prior to 7.1.0, 7.1.2 prior to 7.4.23, and 8.x prior to 8.1.11. ObjectNormalizer::isAllowedAttribute() accepts such names, and setAttributeValue() hands the name straight to PropertyAccessor::setValue(), which parses it as a property path and traverses into the nested object. A payload key such as customer.admin writes to $order->customer->admin. The #[Ignore] metadata attribute is only consulted when the nested object is denormalized in its own right, never when it is reached through a path. #[Groups] restrictions are not bypassed: the path is only accepted when no groups are passed in the context, and then groups restrict nothing. When the root class carries neither #[Ignore] nor #[Groups], no allowlist applies and every key of the payload is let through. Because PropertyAccessor also resolves a path segment against public methods, a segment matching a public method name invokes that method with the attacker’s value.Applications that bind untrusted input to objects are affected, including controllers using #[MapRequestPayload] or #[MapQueryString], whose default normalizer is ObjectNormalizer. With OBJECTTOPOPULATE, as used for partial updates, the traversal reaches an already hydrated entity graph, and the modified field may be persisted. The fix accepts a property path only when the class metadata declares an attribute of that exact name. Declared paths keep working unchanged, and a path in the payload with no matching declaration is ignored.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
Symfony Serializer componentto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.4.56 - Upgrade
Upgrade
Symfony Serializer componentto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.4.50 - Upgrade
Upgrade
Symfony Serializer componentto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.1.0 - Upgrade
Upgrade
Symfony Serializer componentto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.4.23 - Upgrade
Upgrade
Symfony Serializer componentto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 8.1.11
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Symfony releases are affected?
Affected releases are Symfony 5.4.41 through before 5.4.56, 6.4.9 through before 6.4.50, 7.0.9 through before 7.1.0, 7.1.2 through before 7.4.23, and 8.x before 8.1.11.
When is an application realistically exposed?
Exposure requires untrusted input to be denormalized by the Serializer ObjectNormalizer into an object graph. An attacker can use dotted attribute names, such as customer.admin, to target writable properties on nested objects.
Do serialization groups prevent this issue?
Groups are not bypassed. A property path is accepted only when no groups are supplied in the context; when groups are present, their restrictions apply.
What configurations are especially permissive?
If the root class has neither an #[Ignore] attribute nor #[Groups] metadata, no allowlist applies and every payload key is accepted. In that situation, dotted paths can be used to traverse into nested objects and set writable properties.
Does #[Ignore] protect nested properties from this behavior?
No. #[Ignore] metadata is not consulted when a nested object is reached through a property path, so it can be bypassed by a dotted payload key.