CVE-2003-1541
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 · uneditedPlanetMoon Guestbook tr3.a stores sensitive information under the web root with insufficient access control, which allows remote attackers to obtain the admin script password, and other passwords, via a direct request to files/passwd.txt.
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 confidencePlanetMoon Guestbook tr3.a stores sensitive credential data in files/passwd.txt within the web root, which is directly accessible via HTTP without authentication, allowing remote attackers to retrieve admin and other user passwords.
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= tr3.a.1CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify PlanetMoon Guestbook installationCheck for the presence of the PlanetMoon Guestbook files in the web root directory. Look for files like index.php, guestbook.php, or a 'files' directory that would indicate this application is installed.Affected if The PlanetMoon Guestbook application (tr3.a.1) is present on the server.
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Verify the product versionLocate and inspect version files or source code files (such as config files, README, or index.php) that typically contain version information for this application.Affected if The installed version is exactly tr3.a.1.
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Check for the vulnerable passwd.txt fileAttempt to access the URL path '/files/passwd.txt' via HTTP request (e.g., curl http://target/files/passwd.txt or visit in a browser). This file is supposed to contain credential data.Affected if The file files/passwd.txt exists and returns a successful HTTP 200 response with content rather than a 404 or 403 error.
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Verify HTTP access to the files directoryCheck if the 'files' directory within the guestbook web root is accessible via HTTP without authentication. Try accessing the directory listing at '/files/' or verify that direct file access is possible.Affected if The files/ directory is accessible via HTTP without requiring authentication, allowing anyone to retrieve files within it.
A server is affected if PlanetMoon Guestbook tr3.a.1 is installed AND the files/passwd.txt file is accessible via HTTP without authentication.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataMove sensitive files outside the web root or disable directory browsing and require authentication for access to the files/ directory.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,304.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-1541 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2003-1541 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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