Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 4.1.0, the @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend package is affected by improper input validation in scaffolder task list ordering. An authenticated Backstage user with permission to create and read relevant scaffolder tasks may be able to infer confidential task data under specific conditions. Successful exploitation requires retained task secrets, visibility of a target task, knowledge of the secret structure, and repeated requests. This issue is fixed in version 4.1.0.

Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 4.1.0, the @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend package is affected by sensitive information exposure in scaffolder task logs. An authenticated user who can create and read scaffolder tasks may be able to observe sensitive values in task logs in deployments with restrictive action permissions and affected templates. Exploitation requires a denied action whose input contains such a value. This issue is fixed in version 4.1.0.

Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 3.3.1, 3.4.1, 4.0.3 and 4.1.0, the @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend package is affected by scaffolder action input authorization bypass. An authenticated user with access to affected Scaffolder templates could bypass configured action restrictions. Depending on integration credentials, this could grant unauthorized access to repositories and related source-control resources. This issue is fixed in versions 3.3.1, 3.4.1, 4.0.3 and 4.1.0.

Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 4.1.0, the @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend package could expose sensitive information in Scaffolder task failure events. Under specific template and failure conditions, an authenticated user may retrieve backend-managed credentials used during task execution from affected task events. This issue is fixed in version 4.1.0.

Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 3.3.1, 3.4.1, 4.0.3 and 4.1.0, the @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend package is affected by sensitive information exposure in scaffolder. An authenticated Backstage user who can read another user's Scaffolder task may receive internal execution data. In deployments where that data contains credentials for an external service, this may permit disclosure and unauthorized changes in that external service. This issue is fixed in versions 3.3.1, 3.4.1, 4.0.3 and 4.1.0.

Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 3.3.1, 3.4.1, 4.0.3 and 4.1.0, the @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend package is affected by improper task state validation in scaffolder backend. An authenticated user with permission to create and access Scaffolder tasks may, under specific timing and deployment conditions, affect files accessible to the Backstage backend. If backend application files are writable, the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the backend may be compromised. This issue is fixed in versions 3.3.1, 3.4.1, 4.0.3 and 4.1.0.

Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 4.1.0, the @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend package could expose secret-derived values in Scaffolder task logs. Deployments that configure sensitive scaffolder.defaultEnvironment.secrets and allow an attacker to create or modify Scaffolder templates are affected. A template author could cause secret-derived values used during template iteration to be persisted and exposed to users who can access the resulting task logs. This issue is fixed in version 4.1.0.

Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 4.1.0, the @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend package is affected by incorrect authorization in scaffolder task listing. An authenticated internal user may be able to view metadata for scaffolder tasks outside the visibility intended by a deployment's permission policy. Stored task secrets are not included in the affected response, and no integrity or availability impact was identified. This issue is fixed in version 4.1.0.

Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Multiple Scaffolder actions and archive extraction utilities were vulnerable to symlink-based path traversal attacks. An attacker with access to create and execute Scaffolder templates could exploit symlinks to read arbitrary files via the debug:log action by creating a symlink pointing to sensitive files (e.g., /etc/passwd, configuration files, secrets); delete arbitrary files via the fs:delete action by creating symlinks pointing outside the workspace, and write files outside the workspace via archive extraction (tar/zip) containing malicious symlinks. This affects any Backstage deployment where users can create or execute Scaffolder templates. This vulnerability is fixed in @backstage/backend-defaults versions 0.12.2, 0.13.2, 0.14.1, and 0.15.0; @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend versions 2.2.2, 3.0.2, and 3.1.1; and @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-node versions 0.11.2 and 0.12.3. Users should upgrade to these versions or later. Some workarounds are available. Follow the recommendation in the Backstage Threat Model to limit access to creating and updating templates, restrict who can create and execute Scaffolder templates using the permissions framework, audit existing templates for symlink usage, and/or run Backstage in a containerized environment with limited filesystem access.

Impact

Multiple Scaffolder actions and archive extraction utilities were vulnerable to symlink-based path traversal attacks. An attacker with access to create and execute Scaffolder templates could exploit symlinks to:

1. Read arbitrary files via the debug:log action by creating a symlink pointing to sensitive files (e.g., /etc/passwd, configuration files, secrets) 2. Delete arbitrary files via the fs:delete action by creating symlinks pointing outside the workspace 3. Write files outside the workspace via archive extraction (tar/zip) containing malicious symlinks

This affects any Backstage deployment where users can create or execute Scaffolder templates.

Patches

This vulnerability is fixed in the following package versions:

- @backstage/backend-defaults version 0.12.2, 0.13.2, 0.14.1, 0.15.0 - @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend version 2.2.2, 3.0.2, 3.1.1 - @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-node version 0.11.2, 0.12.3

Users should upgrade to these versions or later.

Workarounds

- Follow the recommendation in the Backstage Threat Model to limit access to creating and updating templates - Restrict who can create and execute Scaffolder templates using the permissions framework - Audit existing templates for symlink usage - Run Backstage in a containerized environment with limited filesystem access

References

- CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access - OWASP Path Traversal