CVE-2011-3769
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 · uneditedPHPads 2.0 allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via a direct request to a .php file, which reveals the installation path in an error message, as demonstrated by ads.inc.php.
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 confidencePHPads 2.0 contains an information disclosure vulnerability where directly requesting certain PHP files (such as ads.inc.php) without proper initialization triggers error messages that reveal the application's full installation path on the server. This path disclosure can aid attackers in reconnaissance for further exploitation.
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= 2.0CVSS 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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Confirm PHPads 2.0 installationIdentify whether Blondish PHPads version 2.0 is installed on the server by checking for the application directory or its characteristic files.Affected if PHPads 2.0 is present on the server
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Locate vulnerable PHP filesSearch the web document root for the file ads.inc.php (and similar include files such as ads.php, adlayer.inc.php, or banner.inc.php) that are part of the PHPads installation.Affected if The file ads.inc.php exists in the web-accessible directory
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Test direct file requestSend an HTTP GET request directly to ads.inc.php via browser or curl (e.g., http://target.com/includes/ads.inc.php) without any query parameters or proper initialization context.Affected if Requesting ads.inc.php directly triggers an error message
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Check for path disclosure in errorsExamine the error output from the direct request. Look for full filesystem paths in warning, fatal, or PHP error messages that reveal the server's directory structure.Affected if Error messages display the full absolute installation path (e.g., /var/www/html/phpads/)
The environment is affected if PHPads 2.0 is installed and directly accessing ads.inc.php reveals the server's full installation path in error output.
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 dataRestrict direct access to include files and implement proper error handling to suppress verbose error messages that disclose system paths. Ensure all PHP files check for required initialization before executing.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3769 — 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-2011-3769 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