CVE-2011-3774
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 · uneditedphp Easy Survey Package (phpESP) 2.1.1 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 public/landing.php and certain other files.
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 confidencephpESP 2.1.1 contains an information disclosure vulnerability where directly accessing certain PHP files (such as public/landing.php) causes the application to reveal its installation path in error messages. This occurs because these files can be requested directly rather than being properly included, causing PHP to emit path information in stack traces or error output.
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= 2.1.1CVSS 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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Confirm phpESP installationLocate phpESP files on the web server. Look for directories containing public/, admin/, include/ folders with .php files, or search for files like landing.php, survey.php, or admin.php that are part of phpESPAffected if phpESP is installed on this system
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Verify phpESP version is 2.1.1Check for version information in the phpESP source code. Look in version.php, config.php, the main index file, or any README file for a version string indicating 2.1.1Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.1.1
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Check if PHP error display is enabledReview the PHP configuration (php.ini) or create a PHP info page to check if display_errors is set to On. Also check .htaccess or web server configuration for PHP directives. The path disclosure is only visible in HTTP responses if error output is enabledAffected if PHP display_errors is enabled - this makes the vulnerability observable to attackers
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Test for path disclosure via direct file accessSend an HTTP GET request directly to a phpESP file that should normally be included, such as public/landing.php or include/common.php. Check the response body for absolute file system paths (like /var/www/... or C:\inetpub\...) in PHP error messages, warnings, or stack tracesAffected if The HTTP response contains absolute server file paths in error messages or PHP warnings
You are affected if phpESP version 2.1.1 is installed and PHP error display is enabled, allowing direct access to include files to expose installation paths 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 dataDisable PHP error display and detailed error messages in production environments, or configure web server rules to prevent direct access to include files, or upgrade to a patched version if available.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3774 — 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-2011-3774 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