CVE-2012-6567
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 · uneditedREDCap before 4.14.0 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in the logic of a custom rule.
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 confidenceREDCap before 4.14.0 contains an OS command injection vulnerability in its custom rule logic processing. Remote authenticated users can inject shell metacharacters into custom rule definitions, allowing arbitrary command execution on the underlying system. This is a classic input validation failure where user-supplied data in custom rules is passed to system shell commands without proper sanitization.
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<= 4.13.18CVSS 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
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/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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Determine REDCap installed versionAccess the REDCap web interface and navigate to the Control Center or check the version.php file in the installation directory. The version number is typically displayed in the footer of the application or can be found in a version file within the redcap directory.Affected if The installed version is 4.13.18 or earlier as indicated in the affected versions range (Redcap <= 4.13.18)
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Verify custom rules module is enabledLog into REDCap as an administrator and navigate to the Control Center or project-level settings to check if the 'Custom Record Labeling and Cascading' or custom rules feature is enabled. This is typically found under the 'External Modules' or 'Customizations' section of the project configuration.Affected if The custom rules module is enabled and accessible to authenticated users, as this is the attack surface for the vulnerability
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Review existing custom rule definitionsAccess the custom rules configuration panel in affected projects. Inspect any defined custom rules for the presence of shell metacharacters such as semicolons (;), pipes (|), backticks (`), dollar signs with parentheses ($()), or other command injection patterns.Affected if Any custom rules contain shell metacharacters or appear to contain encoded commands, indicating potential exploitation or testing
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Check audit logs for custom rule modificationsReview REDCap audit logs or server access logs for entries related to custom rule creation, modification, or deletion. Look for POST requests to custom rule endpoints with unusual parameter patterns.Affected if There are audit log entries showing custom rule changes that were not performed by trusted administrators, or contain unexpected patterns
A user is affected if their REDCap installation is version 4.13.18 or earlier AND the custom rules module is enabled and accessible to authenticated users.
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 REDCap 4.14.0 or later which implements proper input sanitization for custom rule logic. Until upgraded, limit access to trusted authenticated users only and monitor for suspicious custom rule creation or modification.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-6567 — 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-2012-6567 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
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