Require authentication for Active Storage direct uploads (#267)

Active Storage mounts its direct-upload write endpoints -- POST
/rails/active_storage/direct_uploads and the disk-service PUT at
/rails/active_storage/disk/:token -- on framework controllers that inherit
from ActiveStorage::BaseController, so they never pass through
ApplicationController's require_authentication. Anyone who can read the
public login page can lift a CSRF token and Rails session cookie, POST to
the metadata endpoint, and receive a signed disk PUT URL without holding a
Campfire session_token.

That is enough to allocate ActiveStorage::Blob rows and persist bytes to
disk anonymously. The blobs stay unattached (no message can be created
without an account) and nothing purges them, so an unauthenticated caller
can grow storage without bound. Because the recommended self-host layout
co-locates uploaded files and the SQLite database on one /rails/storage
volume, that growth eventually makes database writes fail -- blocking login
and messaging until an administrator frees space and purges the blobs.

Campfire uploads attachments through MessagesController as a normal
multipart POST and does not use direct uploads at all, so these endpoints
have no legitimate anonymous caller. Require a valid Campfire session
before the metadata endpoint allocates a blob or the disk endpoint accepts
an upload; both return 401 to anonymous callers. Serving (disk#show,
representations, blob redirects) is unchanged.
This commit is contained in:
Jeremy Daer
2026-08-30 10:24:41 -07:00
committed by GitHub
parent 94a48aacb6
commit 79eb9a5516
3 changed files with 97 additions and 0 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
module ActiveStorageAuthentication
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
include Authentication::SessionLookup
private
def require_active_storage_authentication
head :unauthorized unless find_session_by_cookie
end
end
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
# Active Storage mounts its direct-upload write endpoints
# (POST /rails/active_storage/direct_uploads and the disk-service PUT) on
# framework controllers that inherit from ActiveStorage::BaseController, so
# they never pass through ApplicationController's require_authentication.
# Campfire uploads attachments through MessagesController instead and does not
# use direct uploads at all, leaving these endpoints reachable by anyone who
# can read the public login page. Require a valid Campfire session before an
# anonymous caller can allocate a Blob or persist bytes to disk.
Rails.application.config.to_prepare do
ActiveStorage::DirectUploadsController.include ActiveStorageAuthentication
ActiveStorage::DirectUploadsController.before_action :require_active_storage_authentication
ActiveStorage::DiskController.include ActiveStorageAuthentication
ActiveStorage::DiskController.before_action :require_active_storage_authentication, only: :update
end
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
require "test_helper"
class ActiveStorageAuthenticationTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
setup do
host! "once.campfire.test"
end
test "direct upload metadata endpoint rejects anonymous callers" do
get new_session_url
assert_response :success
assert_no_difference -> { ActiveStorage::Blob.count } do
post rails_direct_uploads_url, params: blob_params, as: :json
end
assert_response :unauthorized
end
test "direct upload metadata endpoint allows authenticated users" do
sign_in :david
assert_difference -> { ActiveStorage::Blob.count }, 1 do
post rails_direct_uploads_url, params: blob_params, as: :json
end
assert_response :success
end
test "disk service upload endpoint rejects anonymous callers" do
sign_in :david
post rails_direct_uploads_url, params: blob_params, as: :json
assert_response :success
upload_path = URI.parse(response.parsed_body.dig("direct_upload", "url")).request_uri
anonymous = open_session
anonymous.host! "once.campfire.test"
anonymous.put upload_path,
params: attachment_bytes,
headers: { "Content-Type" => "application/octet-stream" }
assert_equal 401, anonymous.status
end
test "disk service download endpoint stays public" do
ActiveStorage::Current.url_options = { host: "once.campfire.test", protocol: "https" }
blob = ActiveStorage::Blob.create_and_upload! \
io: StringIO.new(attachment_bytes), filename: "hi.txt", content_type: "text/plain"
download_path = URI.parse(blob.url).request_uri
anonymous = open_session
anonymous.host! "once.campfire.test"
anonymous.get download_path
assert_equal 200, anonymous.status
assert_equal attachment_bytes, anonymous.response.body
ensure
blob&.purge
end
private
def attachment_bytes
"hello!"
end
def blob_params
{ blob: {
filename: "quota.bin",
byte_size: attachment_bytes.bytesize,
checksum: Digest::MD5.base64digest(attachment_bytes),
content_type: "application/octet-stream"
} }
end
end