CpanelApplication

CVE-2017-18415

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-08-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 56.0.52 / 60.0.48 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 67.9999.103 allows code execution in the context of the mailman account because of incorrect environment-variable filtering (SEC-302).

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 confidence

cPanel before version 67.9999.103 contains a flaw in environment-variable filtering that allows authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the mailman system account, likely through improper sanitization of environment variables passed to system calls.

MitigationUpdate cPanel to version 67.9999.103 or later to patch the environment-variable filtering vulnerability (SEC-302). If immediate patching is not possible, restrict access to cPanel interfaces and monitor for suspicious environment manipulation.

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:< 56.0.52>= 57.9999.48, < 60.0.48>= 61.9999.55, < 62.0.30>= 62.0.31, < 64.0.40>= 64.0.42, < 66.0.23>= 66.0.24, < 67.9999.103

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. Identify cPanel version
    Run 'cat /usr/local/cpanel/version' or check /var/cpanel/cpanel.config for version information
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the affected ranges: < 56.0.52; >= 57.9999.48 to < 60.0.48; >= 61.9999.55 to < 62.0.30; >= 62.0.31 to < 64.0.40; >= 64.0.42 to < 66.0.23; >= 66.0.24 to < 67.9999.103
  2. Verify Mailman mailing list manager is enabled
    Check if Mailman is installed and active by running 'rpm -q mailman' or checking /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/ for the Mailman directory structure
    Affected if Mailman is installed and the cPanel version is in the affected ranges listed above
  3. Check for suspicious environment variable manipulation
    Review cPanel access logs in /usr/local/cpanel/logs/ for unusual environment variable patterns or examine /etc/cron.d/mailman for unexpected cron entries related to Mailman
    Affected if Unusual environment variable patterns or unauthorized Mailman cron jobs exist on a system with an affected cPanel version

A system is affected if it runs any cPanel version prior to 67.9999.103 with Mailman enabled, as the vulnerability allows authenticated attackers to manipulate environment variables to execute code as the mailman system account.

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 56.0.52 / 60.0.48 / 62.0.30 or later
Fixed in 56.0.5260.0.4862.0.30
Interim mitigation

Update cPanel to version 67.9999.103 or later to patch the environment-variable filtering vulnerability (SEC-302). If immediate patching is not possible, restrict access to cPanel interfaces and monitor for suspicious environment manipulation.

Fix this in Cpanel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,260
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,216.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18415 — 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-2017-18415 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