CVE-2017-18403
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 68.0.15 allows code execution in the context of the nobody account via Mailman archives (SEC-337).
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 68.0.15 contains a vulnerability (SEC-337) that allows authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the nobody system user through Mailman mailing list archives. The 'nobody' user is a low-privilege account used by web servers for untrusted processes.
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>= 61.9999.55, < 62.0.35>= 63.9999.74, < 64.0.42>= 65.9999.38, < 66.0.34>= 67.9999.64, < 68.0.15CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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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Check cPanel versionRun the command 'cpsversion' or check /var/cpanel/cpanel.config for the version, or use WHM interface to view cPanel versionAffected if The installed version falls 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
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Verify if Mailman is installedCheck for Mailman installation by looking for /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman or run 'whmapi1 mailman_status'Affected if Mailman is installed and the cPanel version is in any of the affected ranges listed above
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Inspect processes running as nobody userRun 'ps aux | grep nobody' to list processes running under the nobody account, especially looking for unexpected shell or script executionAffected if There are unexpected processes or shell sessions running as nobody that were not initiated by legitimate administrative tasks
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Review Mailman archive access logsCheck Mailman archive logs in /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/archives/ for any suspicious or unauthorized access patternsAffected if There are archive access logs showing requests from untrusted accounts or unusual patterns in the timeframe when the vulnerable version was active
You are affected if your cPanel version is below 68.0.15 and falls within one of the four vulnerable version ranges, and Mailman is installed and accessible on your server.
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 data62.0.3564.0.4266.0.34
Update cPanel to version 68.0.15 or later to patch this vulnerability. Review Mailman archive configurations and monitor for any unauthorized code execution attempts under the nobody account.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18403 — 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-2017-18403 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data