Pterodactyl does not revoke SFTP access when server is deleted or permissions reduced

Description

Summary

Pterodactyl does not revoke active SFTP connections when a user is removed from a server instance or has their permissions changes with respect to file access over SFTP. This allows a user that was already connected to SFTP to remain connected and access files even after their permissions are revoked.

Details

When a user opens a connection to a server using the Wings SFTP server instance the permissions are checked and returned from the authentication API call made to the Panel. However, credentials are not checked again after the initial handshake. Thus, if a user is removed from a server in the panel or have their permissions modified, those permissions are not updated in the SFTP connection.

As a result, a user that has already gained access to a server's files via the SFTP subsystem will maintain those permissions until disconnected (via Wings restart, or a manual disconnection on their end).

> [!NOTE]
>
> This issue impacts the SFTP subsystem for server files specifically. There is no exposure of Wings private data, or any data outside of a server's local filesystem. Additionally, a user must have been connected to SFTP at the time of their permissions being revoked in order for this issue to be exploited. If a user was not connected, they would not be able to connect once their permissions were reduced.

Fix

Please upgrade to [email protected] and [email protected] to resolve this issue. Patches are available via the implementation PRs, but it is recommended to apply by upgrading the entire instance.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2026-01-06 17:18:56 UTC
Updated
2026-01-06 17:18:57 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2026-01-06 17:18:56 UTC
NVD published
2026-01-05

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.01% 1.57%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
7.5 4.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:P)
Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation.
Privileges required (PR:H)
High privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N)
No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:H)
High confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:H)
High integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:H)
High availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N)
No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N)
No integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N)
No availability impact on subsequent systems.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-613 Insufficient Session Expiration

Credits

  • real2two (reporter)

Affected packages (2)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
composer pterodactyl/panel < 1.12.0 1.12.0
go github.com/pterodactyl/wings < 1.12.0 1.12.0

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence