Would a public upload folder be a security issue? - apache

Question

On my site, I have an ability for users to upload a file into the server and be able to view all uploaded files in a directory called "public uploads" where users can view all files that's been uploaded by other users. It's the Apache directory page where it says "Index of /uploads". It's sort of a file sharing hub where people can download and share other people's files.
Would there be any security issues with this?
Can a user, say, upload a malicious PHP script, and execute it from the client side?
How can I resolve these issues, should they exist?

Answer 1

Possibly, it all depends on server, PHP and Apache configuration.
See OWASP's Unrestricted File Upload vulnerability page for some of the risks:
The impact of this vulnerability is high, supposed code can be
executed in the server context or on the client. The likelihood of a
detection for the attacker is high. The prevalence is common. As a
result the severity of this type of vulnerability is High.
The web
server can be compromised by uploading and executing a web-shell which
can run commands, browse system files, browse local resources, attack
other servers, and exploit the local vulnerabilities, and so forth.
This may also result in a defacement.
An attacker might be able to put
a phishing page into the website.
An attacker might be able to put
stored XSS into the website.
This vulnerability can make the website
vulnerable to some other types of attacks such as XSS.
Picture uploads
may trigger vulnerabilities in broken picture libraries on a client
(libtiff, IE had problems in the past) if the picture is published
1:1.
Script code or other code may be embedded in the uploaded file,
which gets executed if the picture is published 1:1.
Local
vulnerabilities of real-time monitoring tools, such as an antivirus,
can be exploited.
A malicious file (Unix shell script, windows virus,
reverse shell) can be uploaded on the server in order to execute code
by an administrator or webmaster later -- on the server or on a client
of the admin or webmaster.
The web server might be used as a server in
order to host of malware, illegal software, porn, and other objects.
See my other post for some general guidelines on making file uploads safe.

Answer 2

Allowing users to upload files to a public folder does not pose a risk for your server. They cannot run these files on your server.
It does pose a risk for users that download any of these files. These files may contain a virus or malware. Opening any of these files is a high security risk for your users. Not sure you're doing them a favor offering such a feature.