CVE-2017-16941
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 · uneditedOctober CMS through 1.0.428 does not prevent use of .htaccess in themes, which allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary PHP code by downloading a theme ZIP archive from /backend/cms/themes, and then uploading and importing a modified archive with two new files: a .php file and a .htaccess file. NOTE: the vendor says "I don't think [an attacker able to login to the system under an account that has access to manage/upload themes] is a threat model that we need to be considering.
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 · moderate confidenceOctober CMS through 1.0.428 fails to validate or restrict the contents of uploaded theme archives, allowing authenticated users with theme management permissions to include .htaccess files alongside executable PHP files. When the theme is imported, the .htaccess can be configured to serve PHP files as executable code, achieving arbitrary code execution.
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<= 1.0.428CVSS 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 installed October CMS versionLocate the version file or admin dashboard 'System > Updates' panel to determine if the version is 1.0.428 or lowerAffected if Version is 1.0.428 or below
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Review theme management permissionsNavigate to Settings > Users > Permissions and identify which user roles have 'theme management' or 'manage themes' capabilities enabledAffected if Any user role other than full administrators has theme management permissions granted
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Inspect theme directory for .htaccess filesUse file system access to list all .htaccess files within the /themes directory and any installed theme subdirectoriesAffected if Any .htaccess files exist in theme directories that contain directives to execute PHP files (such as SetHandler or AddType for PHP execution)
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Examine theme archives for embedded .htaccessIf recent theme imports occurred, extract and inspect any downloaded or uploaded theme .zip archives for the presence of .htaccess files before importAffected if Theme archives contain .htaccess files alongside PHP files
A user is affected if running October CMS version 1.0.428 or lower AND has theme management permissions enabled for non-administrator accounts, with potential compromise evidenced by suspicious .htaccess or PHP files in theme directories.
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 theme management permissions to highly trusted administrators only; implement server-side validation to reject theme archives containing .htaccess files during upload/import; upgrade to a patched version if available.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $4,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16941 — 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-2017-16941 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data