CVE-2011-3800
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 · uneditedSerendipity 1.5.5 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 templates/newspaper/layout.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 · moderate confidenceSerendipity CMS 1.5.5 contains an information disclosure vulnerability where direct requests to certain PHP files (such as templates/newspaper/layout.php) trigger error messages that reveal the full server installation path. This path information can aid attackers in reconnaissance and targeting further exploits.
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= 1.5.5CVSS 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 Serendipity CMS versionLocate the version file or admin interface. Typically found in include/version.inc.php or the admin dashboard under 'About' or 'System Information'.Affected if The installed version is exactly 1.5.5
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Check if vulnerable template file existsInspect the file system for templates/newspaper/layout.php in the Serendipity installation directory.Affected if The file templates/newspaper/layout.php exists in the web root
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Test for path disclosure via direct requestSend an HTTP GET request directly to templates/newspaper/layout.php (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/templates/newspaper/layout.php) and examine any error output or PHP error messages returned.Affected if The response contains the full server filesystem path (e.g., /var/www/html/serendipity/...) in error messages or warnings
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Verify PHP error display configurationCheck the PHP configuration (php.ini) or application-level error handling settings for display_errors or error_reporting levels.Affected if PHP display_errors is set to On and error_reporting includes E_ALL or similar verbose settings
A user is affected if running Serendipity 1.5.5 with the templates/newspaper/layout.php file accessible and PHP configured to display detailed errors that reveal filesystem paths.
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 dataConfigure PHP error handling to suppress detailed error messages in production, or upgrade to a patched version if available. Restrict direct access to template files that should not be accessed directly.
- 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-2011-3800 — 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-2011-3800 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