CVE-2016-10791
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 60.0.15 does not ensure that system accounts lack a valid password, so that logins are impossible (CPANEL-9559).
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 60.0.15 fails to enforce that system accounts (e.g., service accounts, internal system users) have invalid or unset passwords during installation/configuration. This could allow unauthorized access to system accounts that should be inaccessible for interactive logins.
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>= 59.9999.58, < 60.0.15CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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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Determine cPanel versionRun the command: /usr/local/cpanel/cpanel -V or check /var/cpanel/versionAffected if The installed version is 59.9999.58 or higher but lower than 60.0.15
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Identify system accountsCheck /etc/passwd for accounts with UID below 1000, or look for accounts in /etc/login.defs with system ranges (UID_MIN typically 1000). Focus on accounts like mysql, postgres, nobody, mail, ftp, or custom service accounts created by cPanel.Affected if System accounts exist on the server (UID < 1000 or in system UID range)
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Check for valid passwords on system accountsUse 'getent passwd <username>' to view account details, then check /etc/shadow for the password hash. A valid password hash in the second field (not starting with ! or *) indicates a usable password.Affected if System accounts have a valid password hash in /etc/shadow (not *, !, or empty)
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Test SSH access for system accountsAttempt to connect via SSH using a system account username, or review /etc/ssh/sshd_config for AllowUsers/AllowGroups directives and verify system accounts are not explicitly permitted.Affected if System accounts can authenticate via SSH (not restricted in sshd_config and have valid credentials)
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Test console/telnet access for system accountsVerify /etc/securetty does not list virtual terminals that system accounts could use, and check if PAM configuration permits these accounts to login.Affected if System accounts have console or PAM-based login access enabled
You are affected if cPanel version is between 59.9999.58 and 60.0.15 (exclusive) AND any system account has a valid password set that permits interactive SSH or console login.
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 data60.0.15
Upgrade cPanel to version 60.0.15 or later, which implements proper validation to ensure system accounts cannot have valid passwords set. As a workaround, manually verify that system accounts have invalid/expired passwords and cannot be used for SSH or console login.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-10791 — 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-2016-10791 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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