CpanelApplication

CVE-2017-18400

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-08-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 62.0.35 / 64.0.42 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
cPanel before 68.0.15 allows local root code execution via cpdavd (SEC-333).

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 confidence

Local root code execution vulnerability in cPanel's cpdavd service affecting versions before 68.0.15, allowing attackers with local server access to escalate to root privileges.

MitigationUpgrade cPanel to version 68.0.15 or later to patch the privilege escalation in cpdavd.

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
CpanelApplication
Affected:>= 61.9999.55, < 62.0.35>= 63.9999.74, < 64.0.42>= 65.9999.38, < 66.0.34>= 67.9999.64, < 68.0.15

CVSS 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed cPanel version
    Run '/usr/local/cpanel/cpanel -V' or check '/usr/local/cpanel/version' to retrieve the running cPanel version
    Affected if The version number is within any of these ranges: 61.9999.55 to 62.0.34, 63.9999.74 to 64.0.41, 65.9999.38 to 66.0.33, or 67.9999.64 to 68.0.14
  2. Verify cpdavd service is active
    Run 'ps aux | grep cpdavd' or check service status via 'systemctl status cpdavd' (or service cpdavd status on older systems) to determine if the cpdavd daemon is running
    Affected if The cpdavd process is running on the system
  3. Audit cpdavd binary permissions
    Run 'ls -la /usr/local/cpanel/bin/cpdavd' or similar path to check ownership and permissions on the cpdavd binary
    Affected if The binary is owned by root with SUID bit set, allowing execution with root privileges

The system is affected if cPanel version falls within any of the four vulnerable ranges AND the cpdavd service is running, allowing a local attacker to potentially escalate to root privileges.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 62.0.35 / 64.0.42 / 66.0.34 or later
Fixed in 62.0.3564.0.4266.0.34
Interim mitigation

Upgrade cPanel to version 68.0.15 or later to patch the privilege escalation in cpdavd.

Fix this in Cpanel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18400 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-18400 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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