Php NukeApplication · Francisco Burzi

CVE-2001-0854

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2001-12-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
PHP-Nuke 5.2 allows remote attackers to copy and delete arbitrary files by calling case.filemanager.php with admin.php as an argument, which sets the $PHP_SELF variable and makes it appear that case.filemanager.php is being called by admin.php instead of the user.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

PHP-Nuke 5.2 contains a flaw in case.filemanager.php where the $PHP_SELF variable can be spoofed by passing admin.php as an argument, causing the application to misinterpret the request source. This allows unauthenticated remote attackers to perform arbitrary file copy and delete operations on the host system.

MitigationUpgrade from PHP-Nuke 5.2 to a supported version, or if upgrade is not feasible, implement strict authentication checks and input validation on all file operations within the filemanager module.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Php NukeApplication
Affected:= 5.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if PHP-Nuke is installed
    Look for PHP-Nuke typical files such as index.php containing 'PHP-Nuke' or 'phpnuke' in the source code, or check for the presence of a /html/ or /modules/ directory structure common to PHP-Nuke installations.
    Affected if PHP-Nuke is present on the server.
  2. Determine the PHP-Nuke version
    Check the main index.php file, config.php, or a version.php file within the PHP-Nuke installation for a version number. Compare against the affected range: version 5.2.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.2.
  3. Locate the filemanager module
    Search for the file 'case.filemanager.php' within the PHP-Nuke directory structure, typically found under /modules/FileManager/ or similar paths within the PHP-Nuke installation.
    Affected if The file case.filemanager.php exists in the PHP-Nuke installation.
  4. Check if the filemanager is accessible
    Attempt to access the filemanager module via HTTP request to determine if it is enabled and reachable. Look for admin.php or similar entry points that could be used to trigger the vulnerable code path.
    Affected if The filemanager module is accessible without authentication.

A system is affected if PHP-Nuke version 5.2 is installed and the case.filemanager.php file is present and accessible, allowing unauthenticated file operations.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade from PHP-Nuke 5.2 to a supported version, or if upgrade is not feasible, implement strict authentication checks and input validation on all file operations within the filemanager module.

Fix this in Php Nuke Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2001-0854 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data