unclecode Crawl4AI multiple vulnerabilities in Docker API server

Executive brief

Crawl4AI, a tool used for web crawling and data extraction for LLMs, contains multiple critical security flaws in its Docker API server. These vulnerabilities allow attackers to bypass authentication, execute arbitrary code, and access internal network resources. This could lead to full system compromise, unauthorized data access, or the use of the server to attack other internal company systems.

Technical details

Crawl4AI versions 0.8.6 and earlier contain several critical vulnerabilities including: 1) Path traversal in /screenshot and /pdf endpoints allowing arbitrary file writes. 2) Multiple SSRF vulnerabilities in crawl and webhook endpoints, including bypasses for IPv6-mapped IPv4 addresses. 3) Authentication bypass on monitoring endpoints due to missing dependency injection. 4) Use of a hardcoded JWT secret key ('mysecret') allowing token forgery. 5) Arbitrary JavaScript execution via the /execute_js endpoint. These issues can be exploited by unauthenticated remote attackers to gain full control over the container, access cloud metadata (169.254.169.254), or pivot into internal networks. Users should upgrade to version 0.8.7.

Affected products

• unclecode crawl4ai <= 0.8.6

Timeline

• 2026-06-02: disclosed
• 2026-06-16: advisory: GitHub Advisory published

References

• https://api.github.com/users/August829
• https://github.com/August829
• https://api.github.com/users/August829/gists%7B/gist_id%7D
• https://api.github.com/users/August829/repos
• https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/11325101?v=4
• https://api.github.com/users/August829/events%7B/privacy%7D