CVE-2016-4813
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 · uneditedNetCommons 2.4.2.1 and earlier allows remote authenticated secretariat (aka CLERK) users to gain privileges by creating a SYSTEM_ADMIN account.
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 confidenceNetCommons 2.4.2.1 and earlier contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where authenticated users with secretariat (CLERK) role can create SYSTEM_ADMIN accounts, allowing them to elevate their privileges to administrator level.
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<= 2.4.2.1CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 NetCommons versionCheck the NetCommons version by accessing the administration panel or inspecting version.php/Version file in the NetCommons installation directory.Affected if The installed version is 2.4.2.1 or earlier.
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Verify secretariat (CLERK) role existsAccess the user role management section in the NetCommons admin panel and list all defined roles to confirm the secretariat or CLERK role is present.Affected if The secretariat/CLERK role is defined and active in the system.
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Check account creation permissions for CLERK roleNavigate to the account/user creation module in NetCommons and attempt to create a new user while logged in as a secretariat (CLERK) role user. Observe whether the role selection dropdown includes SYSTEM_ADMIN option.Affected if A user with secretariat (CLERK) role can access account creation and sees SYSTEM_ADMIN as an available role option.
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Inspect RBAC enforcement on account creationExamine the PHP code handling user account creation (typically in the users controller or model) to verify if role-based access control checks are performed before allowing SYSTEM_ADMIN role assignment.Affected if No RBAC check exists or the check fails to restrict SYSTEM_ADMIN creation by lower-privileged users.
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Confirm SYSTEM_ADMIN account can be createdAs a secretariat (CLERK) user, submit a new account creation request with SYSTEM_ADMIN role and verify the account is created successfully.Affected if The SYSTEM_ADMIN account is created and the secretariat user gains elevated administrator privileges.
You are affected if your NetCommons version is 2.4.2.1 or earlier and a user with secretariat (CLERK) role can successfully create a SYSTEM_ADMIN 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 a NetCommons version newer than 2.4.2.1. Alternatively, implement proper role-based access control (RBAC) checks in the account creation module to prevent lower-privileged users from creating administrative accounts.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4813 — 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-2016-4813 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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