CVE-2016-10775
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 · uneditedcPanel before 60.0.25 allows arbitrary file-chown operations via reassign_post_terminate_cruft (SEC-173).
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 confidencecPanel before version 60.0.25 contains a vulnerability in the reassign_post_terminate_cruft function that allows arbitrary file ownership (chown) operations. This could enable a low-privileged user to change ownership of system files, potentially leading to privilege escalation.
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>= 11.54.0.0, < 11.54.0.33>= 55.9999.61, < 56.0.39>= 57.9999.48, < 58.0.37>= 59.9999.58, < 60.0.25CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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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Identify installed cPanel versionRun the command /usr/local/cpanel/cpanel -V or check /var/cpanel/version to retrieve the exact cPanel version numberAffected if The version returned falls within these ranges: 11.54.0.0 through 11.54.0.32, 55.9999.61 through 56.0.38, 57.9999.48 through 58.0.36, or 59.9999.58 through 60.0.24
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Confirm the vulnerable function existsInspect cPanel source files for the reassign_post_terminate_cruft function in the cPanel codebase, typically found in /usr/local/cpanel/Affected if The function is present in the cPanel installation and the version is in the affected range above
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Verify low-privileged user access to cPanel APICheck if unprivileged user accounts have access to cPanel or WHM interfaces that could invoke the vulnerable function through API callsAffected if Low-privileged users can access cPanel features that trigger the reassign_post_terminate_cruft function
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Review system logs for suspicious chown operationsSearch audit logs and system logs (such as /var/log/messages or cPanel audit logs) for unexpected chown commands executed by the cPanel userAffected if Logs show chown operations on system files performed by cPanel processes that were not initiated by administrators
You are affected if your cPanel version falls within any of the four affected version ranges and low-privileged users have access to cPanel interfaces that can trigger the vulnerable function.
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 data11.54.0.3356.0.3958.0.37
Update cPanel to version 60.0.25 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, review user permissions and monitor for suspicious file ownership changes.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-10775 — 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-2016-10775 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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