Executive brief
Snipe-IT is an asset management platform used by organizations to track hardware and equipment inventory. An authenticated attacker can inject markdown image syntax into checkout acceptance note fields; the platform fails to sanitize this input before rendering it in outbound email notifications. When processed, this allows the attacker to read arbitrary files from the server (including the .env configuration file) or force the server to make HTTP requests to external systems, potentially exposing API keys and other sensitive credentials.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a mail-based SSRF and arbitrary file read flaw rooted in improper markdown sanitization (CWE-73, CWE-918). When an authenticated user submits a checkout acceptance note containing markdown image syntax (e.g., ), Blade template escaping only neutralizes HTML metacharacters but not markdown punctuation. The input then passes to the Laravel CommonMark parser, which converts it to an <img src="/etc/hostname"> tag. The laravel-mail-auto-embed library recursively processes outbound mail HTML and resolves <img src> attributes via file_get_contents() for local paths or curl for URLs, embedding fetched content into the email as a MIME attachment. An attacker can exfiltrate the .env file (containing APP_KEY, the encryption master key for the entire application) or force the server to contact arbitrary external URLs. Patched in version 8.7.0 via a custom CommonMark extension that strips markdown image syntax before it reaches the parser.
Affected products
- Snipe-IT Snipe-IT before 8.7.0
Timeline
- 2026-07-31: disclosed: Reported under coordinated disclosure
- 2026-08-24: advisory: GitHub security advisory published
- 2026-09-09: patched: Fix released in version 8.7.0