CVE-2011-3812
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 · uneditedVanilla 2.0.16 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 plugins/Minify/min/utils.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 confidenceVanilla 2.0.16 contains an information disclosure vulnerability where directly accessing certain PHP files (such as plugins/Minify/min/utils.php) causes the application to reveal the full installation path in error messages. This path disclosure can aid attackers in reconnaissance for further attacks.
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= 2.0.16CVSS 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 Vanilla installation versionCheck the version.php file in the application root directory or view the admin dashboard 'About' page to verify the installed version is exactly 2.0.16Affected if Version is 2.0.16
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Locate the vulnerable fileCheck if the file plugins/Minify/min/utils.php exists in the Vanilla installation directory by inspecting the filesystemAffected if The file plugins/Minify/min/utils.php exists on the server
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Test direct file accessUsing a web browser or curl command, attempt to directly access the URL path /plugins/Minify/min/utils.php on the server (e.g., http://yourdomain.com/plugins/Minify/min/utils.php)Affected if The page loads and displays a full server file path in an error message or warning
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Check PHP error display settingCreate a temporary PHP info page (phpinfo.php) or check php.ini for the display_errors setting to determine if error messages are visible to web visitorsAffected if display_errors is set to On or On is present in the PHP configuration
You are affected if you are running Vanilla 2.0.16, the plugins/Minify/min/utils.php file exists, direct web access to that file reveals your installation path, and PHP error display is enabled.
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 (display_errors=Off) in php.ini or web server configuration, and/or restrict direct access to vulnerable PHP files via .htaccess rules or web server access controls.
- 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-2011-3812 — 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-2011-3812 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