CVE-2024-29291 - How A Log Leak in Laravel 8-11 Could Expose Your Database Credentials

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Overview

There’s a growing buzz around CVE-2024-29291, a security issue discovered in Laravel Framework versions 8 through 11. Under certain conditions, it might be possible for attackers to obtain sensitive database credentials indirectly via your project’s log files (storage/logs/laravel.log). This vulnerability is hotly debated in the Laravel community. While some say it’s a configuration problem, not a true framework bug, it’s still worth understanding—especially if you haven’t checked your log privacy settings in a while.

This post will break down how this happens, what the risks are, and what you should do right now to protect your Laravel site.

What’s the Issue?

Laravel, like most modern web frameworks, uses log files to record errors and events in your application. By default, these logs are stored in storage/logs/laravel.log in your application directory.

When there’s a misconfiguration or a code bug—such as a failed database connection—Laravel’s exception handler may include full environment details in the error message if the application’s debug mode is enabled (APP_DEBUG=true). That environment detail can sometimes include your raw database credentials.

If APP_DEBUG is set to true in your .env file,

- And

A database connection fails, or

- An exception handling process logs the config/environment details,

- Then

- Database credentials (DB_HOST, DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD) may be written to laravel.log.
- If your storage/logs directory is publicly accessible (for example, due to improper server configuration),

An attacker could download or view these logs and find sensitive information.

> Important: This does _not_ happen if you follow recommended production deployment practices. Still, enough real-world apps are misconfigured or leak logs, so this CVE can be exploited in the wild.

Quick Demo: Reproducing CVE-2024-29291

Let’s run through a simple scenario to show how this could be exposed.

Step 1. You deploy a fresh Laravel 10 project, but in a rush leave .env like this

APP_ENV=local
APP_DEBUG=true

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127...1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=myapp
DB_USERNAME=mydbuser
DB_PASSWORD=secretpassword

Step 2. The database server is misconfigured or unavailable.

Step 3. A buggy database query is triggered inside a route (for example, visiting /users).

// routes/web.php

use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::get('/users', function () {
    return User::all();
});

Step 4. Laravel attempts to connect, fails, and throws an exception. Because DEBUG is ON, the exception handler serializes a lot of context—including your connection config.

Check storage/logs/laravel.log

[2024-06-10 13:37:22] local.ERROR: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Connection refused (SQL: select * from users)
context: array (
  'exception' => 
  Illuminate\Database\QueryException::__set_state(array(
     ...
     'message' => 'SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Connection refused',
     'database' => 'myapp',
     'username' => 'mydbuser',
     'password' => 'secretpassword',
     ...
  )),
)

If the logs are readable, a remote attacker could fetch this file and grab those credentials.

1. Public Web Access

- If you’ve misconfigured your webserver and allowed storage/logs to be public, an attacker just needs to visit something like:

  https://your-laravel-site.com/storage/logs/laravel.log
  

- Or they might look for old logs (laravel-2024-06-10.log), or try directory traversal if your server-wide settings are weak.

### 2. Local Privileges/Escalation

- If the attacker has any local access (for example, shared hosting or LFI bugs elsewhere), they might be able to read the log file from disk.

Is This Really Laravel’s Fault?

Multiple third parties have disputed this CVE. They argue:

- Laravel logs sensitive data only because developers enable debug mode in production (which is not recommended).

Final responsibility is on the site owner to set correct permissions and deployment configs.

Still: Vulnerable misconfigurations are common in the wild. Many organizations run dev-mode setups on customer-facing servers—don’t be one of them!

Set the right permissions: log directories should not be world-readable.

- Double-check your server configs. storage/ and logs/ should not be accessible via HTTP.

Use environment variables carefully.

- Don’t leave real credentials in dev/test configs.

References

- Original CVE record - CVE-2024-29291
- Laravel Security Advisory GHSA-2xh3-prpt-9gxw
- How to Secure Laravel - Official Docs
- Stack Overflow: Laravel log files accessible via browser

Final Thoughts

CVE-2024-29291 isn’t a fancy exploit—hackers won’t break crypto or chain remote code execution. But it’s dangerous because real sites mess up config more often than you’d think. Protect your application by double-checking debug settings and log access. Even small leaks can have big consequences.

Stay safe out there!

*All content in this post is original and produced exclusively for this topic based on public information as of June 2024.*

Timeline

Published on: 04/16/2024 23:15:08 UTC
Last modified on: 11/21/2024 09:07:55 UTC