CVE-2007-3163
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 · uneditedIncomplete blacklist vulnerability in the filemanager in Frederico Caldeira Knabben FCKeditor 2.4.2 allows remote attackers to upload arbitrary .php files via an alternate data stream syntax, as demonstrated by .php::$DATA filenames, a related issue to CVE-2006-0658.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceFCKeditor 2.4.2 filemanager has an incomplete blacklist that fails to block alternate data stream syntax (e.g., .php::$DATA), allowing attackers to bypass extension filtering and upload executable PHP files to the server.
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= 2.4.2CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify FCKeditor installationSearch the web root for 'FCKeditor' directory or check version.js/version.asp files. Look for version string '2.4.2' in source files or server response headers.Affected if FCKeditor version 2.4.2 is installed on the server
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Confirm filemanager is accessibleAttempt to access the upload connector paths such as /fckeditor/editor/filemanager/ or test for the existence of upload handling scripts like upload.php or upload.asp in the filemanager directories.Affected if The filemanager/upload functionality is enabled and accessible via web
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Check upload handling mechanismReview the filemanager connector configuration files (e.g., config files in fckeditor/editor/filemanager/connectors/) to determine if extension filtering uses a blacklist approach rather than an allowlist.Affected if The upload handler relies on blacklist-based extension filtering without rejecting ::$DATA syntax
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Test for vulnerable filename handlingIf permitted and authorized, attempt a test upload with a filename containing '::$DATA' extension (e.g., test.php::$DATA) to observe if the server accepts or processes it differently than 'test.php'.Affected if The server accepts filenames containing alternate data stream syntax without blocking or sanitizing them
A user is affected if FCKeditor 2.4.2 is installed with its filemanager upload functionality enabled and using blacklist-based filtering that does not reject ::$DATA syntax in filenames.
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 dataImplement server-side validation that strips or rejects alternate data stream syntax (::$DATA) from filenames before processing uploads, or migrate to a supported editor like CKEditor.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-3163 — 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-2007-3163 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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- 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