CVE-2011-4941
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 · uneditedUnspecified vulnerability in Piwik 1.2 through 1.4 allows remote attackers with the view permission to execute arbitrary code via unknown attack vectors.
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 confidenceArbitrary code execution vulnerability in Piwik versions 1.2 through 1.4 allows remote attackers with only view-level permissions to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. This is a privilege escalation issue where low-privileged users can achieve remote code execution.
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= 1.2= 1.2.1= 1.3= 1.4CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 the installed Piwik/Matomo versionCheck the version.php file in the root directory, or log into the admin interface and look at the dashboard or 'Help > About' section to find the exact version numberAffected if The installed version is 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.3, or 1.4 exactly as listed in the affected versions
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Confirm the system allows user accountsCheck the Users menu in the Piwik admin panel to see if any users exist beyond the superuser account. Look for users with 'view' permission assignedAffected if There are users with view-level permissions configured in the system
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Verify writeable PHP directoriesInspect the /tmp, /plugins, and /misc directories - check file permissions to confirm they are writable by the web server processAffected if The web server can write to plugin or temporary directories where malicious PHP files could be placed
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Check for unexpected PHP filesSearch the web root, /tmp, /plugins, and /misc directories for recently created or modified .php files, especially those not part of the standard installationAffected if Unrecognized PHP files exist in these directories that could indicate exploitation
You are affected if your Piwik installation is version 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.3, or 1.4 AND the system has user accounts with view-level permissions that could potentially execute arbitrary code through this privilege escalation flaw.
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 dataUpgrade Piwik to the latest version (or at minimum to version 1.5 or later which patched this issue). If running legacy Piwik 1.2-1.4 in production, treat as critical priority and isolate from network immediately.
- 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-2011-4941 — 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-2011-4941 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