Bugfix Issue 1389 PlanImport XML Parse SimplexmlLoadFile

Issue 1389 — planImport (modern) import never parses XML — always "Failed to load XML"

Issue: #1389 Branch: fix/issue-1389 Status: VERIFIED-FIXED (2026-09-11)

Symptom

Every XML upload through the modernized import screen (gui/templates/plans/planImport.html → BFF api/planimport/index.php action=import) returned status:ok with result_map [["Please give this text to your TestLink Administrator<br> - Failed to load XML<br>", "Not imported"]]. Nothing was ever imported; testplan_tcversions stayed empty. The legacy controller parses the very same file fine (its wrapper reads with simplexml_load_string).

Repro steps

1. Log in as admin.
2. Fixture tmp/fixtures_pimp.php: tproject 13 PIMP, plan 24 PIMP-Plan, TCs PIMP-1..3, platform PIMP-Android; zero linked TCs.
3. POST /api/planimport/?action=import&tproject_id=13&tplan_id=24 with uploadedFile = a valid XML file (tmp/pimp_xml/mixed.xml).
4. Observe report Failed to load XML / Not imported; DB unchanged.

Expected: platform + test-case links created (or updated), with OK messages.

Root cause

api/planimport/index.php:113-116 (the import pipeline's parse step):

@libxml_disable_entity_loader(true);
$xml = @simplexml_load_file($targetFile);

Under this stack (PHP 8.3.33 NTS + libxml 2.9.14, both CLI and web SAPI), once libxml_disable_entity_loader(true) has been called, simplexml_load_file() returns false for any local file — libxml reports failed to load external entity "<path>". simplexml_load_string() is unaffected (the loader flag does not break in-memory parsing), and the XXE guard still holds with load_string.

The legacy parse helper simplexml_load_file_wrapper() (lib/functions/xml.inc.php:28-44) already uses file_get_contents() + simplexml_load_string() for exactly this reason — so the legacy import survives PHP 8.x while the BFF port's naive simplexml_load_file() did not. The "byte-for-byte parity" comment at api/planimport/index.php:96-97 was not accurate for the parse step.

Isolated probe (PHP 8.3.33, php -v + libxml 2.9.14):

Probe	Result
libxml_disable_entity_loader(true) + simplexml_load_file()	FALSE — "failed to load external entity"
libxml_disable_entity_loader(true) + simplexml_load_string(file_get_contents())	OK
simplexml_load_file() with loader enabled	OK
XXE payload via load_string + loader disabled	blocked (no file:// leak)

Fix (minimal)

api/planimport/index.php:113-118 — mirror the legacy wrapper:

@libxml_disable_entity_loader(true);
$rawXml = @file_get_contents($targetFile);
$xml = ($rawXml !== false) ? @simplexml_load_string($rawXml, 'SimpleXMLElement', LIBXML_NONET) : false;
@libxml_clear_errors();

XXE defense-in-depth preserved (loader still disabled during parse), file_get_contents failure guarded, libxml error state cleared so the degraded "Failed to load XML" path stays accurate. No i18n/UI change. Files: api/planimport/index.php only (commits 2d9b25a44 fix + bfa1f89d2 polish: LIBXML_NONET per the repo hardened-parse idiom, $rawXml naming).

Verification (regression matrix, all PASS on localhost:8082, fresh DB)

• create: mixed.xml → Platform PIMP-Android has been linked + 2× linked to Test Plan for Platform PIMP-Android OK + link #3 (no platform element) Not imported; DB rows tcversion 16/19, platform 2, order 10/20.
• update / no-dup: re-import mixed.xml → 2× already linked ... only execution order has been updated; links stay at 2.
• execution order: update.xml (order 5) → node_order 10→5 for tcversion 16.
• unknown platform: badplat.xml → platform NoSuchPlatform ... does not exist on target Test Project Not imported; DB unchanged.
• malformed XML: invalid.xml → HTTP 200 graceful Failed to load XML / Not imported.
• XXE: entity payload file:///etc/hostname in a platform name → text never leaks (name rendered empty, entity not expanded).
• no-platform plan: single.xml → create OK platform_id=0; platform-in-link on a platform-less plan → link_with_platform_not_needed.
• browser: upload + submit through planImport.html renders the report with OK rows, Import completed successfully.; no console errors. See screenshots below.
• hygiene: events table has only AUDIT(16) rows from the imports, no new ERROR/WARNING.

Discoveries while testing

• New bug #1407 (filed, label bug): a WELL-FORMED XML whose root is not <testplan> (e.g. legacy <xml>-wrapped export) now gets past parsing and crashes the BFF with an unhandled TypeError: count(): Argument #1 ($value) must be of type Countable|array, null given at api/planimport/index.php:151 ($xml->executables → null because executables is not a direct child of the root) — HTTP 500, empty body. Legacy lib/plan/planImport.php:285-286 has the identical unguarded count() and dies the same way; both generations share the flaw. Left for the fix-bug factory (or alongside #1390).
• The previous tmp/fixtures_pimp.php from the #815 analysis was lost in the fresh-DB reset; a recreated fixture is now tracked (force-added, enable_on_design=1 — the BFF platform universe filter rejects platforms whose enable_on_design flag is 0, which silently turned into no_platforms_on_tproject during setup).

Evidence

Commit range: 2d9b25a44 (fix) + 8fad04dfe/0a44be2b3 (regression suite + fixture + payloads + screenshots) on branch fix/issue-1389.