CVE-2012-4443
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 · uneditedMonkey HTTP Daemon 0.9.3 uses a real UID of root and a real GID of root during execution of CGI scripts, which might allow local users to gain privileges by leveraging cgi-bin write access.
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 confidenceMonkey HTTP Daemon 0.9.3 executes CGI scripts with root UID and GID rather than dropping privileges to the CGI script's owner or a dedicated service account. This means any CGI script placed in the cgi-bin directory runs with full root privileges, enabling local users with cgi-bin write access to execute arbitrary code with elevated permissions.
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= 0.9.3CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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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Verify Monkey HTTP Daemon is installedRun 'monkey --version' or check your package manager for the monkey packageAffected if The command succeeds and shows version information
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Confirm the installed version is 0.9.3Compare the output from the version check to the affected version 0.9.3Affected if The installed version is exactly 0.9.3
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Check if CGI support is enabledInspect the Monkey configuration files for CGI module loading or cgi-bin directory configurationAffected if CGI support is enabled and a cgi-bin directory is configured
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Verify cgi-bin directory permissionsCheck the permissions on the cgi-bin directory configured in Monkey (commonly $MONKEY_ROOT/cgi-bin or /var/www/cgi-bin)Affected if The cgi-bin directory is writable by non-root users or group
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Check process privileges during CGI executionTemporarily place a test CGI script that outputs its effective UID/GID and run it, then inspect the outputAffected if The CGI script executes with UID 0 (root) or GID 0 (root)
You are affected if Monkey HTTP Daemon version 0.9.3 is installed with CGI support enabled and the cgi-bin directory permits write access to non-privileged users, allowing CGI scripts to run with root privileges.
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 dataRestrict write access to the cgi-bin directory to prevent unauthorized script placement, and configure Monkey HTTP Daemon to run CGI scripts under a non-privileged user account by implementing proper privilege dropping before CGI execution.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4443 — 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-2012-4443 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
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