CVE-2012-2991
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 · uneditedThe PayPal (aka MODULE_PAYMENT_PAYPAL_STANDARD) module before 1.1 in osCommerce Online Merchant before 2.3.4 allows remote attackers to set the payment recipient via a modified value of the merchant's e-mail address, as demonstrated by setting the recipient to one's self.
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 confidenceThe PayPal Standard module in osCommerce Online Merchant before version 2.3.4 fails to validate that the merchant's email address matches the configured PayPal account. Attackers can modify the email parameter in the payment request to redirect payments to an arbitrary PayPal account controlled by the attacker.
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<= 2.3.3= 2.3.0= 2.3.1= 2.3.2<= 1.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/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 osCommerce versionLocate the version file or admin dashboard version indicator in your osCommerce installation. Common locations include a version.php file in the core directory or the admin panel footer.Affected if Your installed osCommerce version is 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.3.2, or any version <= 2.3.3 (versions prior to 2.3.4)
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Identify PayPal Standard module versionCheck the modules configuration file or the modules list in your osCommerce admin panel under the PayPal Website Payments Standard module details.Affected if Your PayPal Standard module version is 1.0 or below (versions prior to 1.1)
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Confirm PayPal Standard is enabledNavigate to the payment modules section in your osCommerce admin panel and verify that PayPal Website Payments Standard is installed and enabled for processing transactions.Affected if PayPal Standard is enabled as a payment method in your store configuration
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Inspect PayPal module email validationExamine the PayPal module source code file responsible for constructing payment requests. Look for server-side validation logic that verifies the recipient email matches the configured merchant email before form submission.Affected if The module code lacks server-side validation to confirm the merchant email address matches the configured PayPal account, allowing the email parameter to be modified externally
You are affected if your osCommerce version is 2.3.3 or earlier AND the PayPal Standard module is enabled AND the code does not validate that the merchant email matches the configured PayPal account.
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 to osCommerce 2.3.4 or later and PayPal module version 1.1, which implements server-side validation to verify the merchant email matches the configured account.
- 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-2012-2991 — 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-2012-2991 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