CpanelApplication

CVE-2017-18433

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-08-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 56.0.49 / 58.0.49 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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 64.0.21 allows code execution by webmail and demo accounts via a store_filter API call (SEC-236).

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

cPanel before version 64.0.21 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where webmail and demo accounts can achieve arbitrary code execution through the store_filter API call (SEC-236). This allows low-privilege users to escape their sandbox and execute commands with elevated privileges.

MitigationUpgrade cPanel to version 64.0.21 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, temporarily disable or restrict webmail and demo account functionality as a compensating control.

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:>= 55.9999.61, < 56.0.49>= 57.9999.48, < 58.0.49>= 59.9999.58, < 60.0.43>= 61.9999.55, < 62.0.24>= 63.9999.74, < 64.0.21

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check installed cPanel version
    Run: /usr/local/cpanel/cpanel -V or grep version from /usr/local/cpanel/version
    Affected if Version is between 55.9999.61 and 56.0.48, OR 57.9999.48 and 58.0.48, OR 59.9999.58 and 60.0.42, OR 61.9999.55 and 62.0.23, OR 63.9999.74 and 64.0.20
  2. Determine if webmail accounts exist
    Check for user accounts with webmail privileges via WHM API or by examining /var/cpanel/users/ directory for accounts with webmail access enabled
    Affected if Webmail accounts are present and the cPanel version is in the affected range
  3. Determine if demo accounts exist
    Check for demo accounts in /var/cpanel/users/ or via WHM API listaccoounts for accounts with demo feature enabled
    Affected if Demo accounts are present and the cPanel version is in the affected range
  4. Verify store_filter API is accessible to low-privilege users
    Examine cPanel API documentation or logs for store_filter calls originating from webmail or demo user sessions - check /usr/local/cpanel/logs/error_log or API access logs
    Affected if store_filter API calls can be made by webmail or demo users and the cPanel version is affected

You are affected if your cPanel version falls within any of the five affected ranges AND you have webmail or demo accounts enabled that can access the store_filter API call.

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 56.0.49 / 58.0.49 / 60.0.43 or later
Fixed in 56.0.4958.0.4960.0.43
Interim mitigation

Upgrade cPanel to version 64.0.21 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, temporarily disable or restrict webmail and demo account functionality as a compensating control.

Fix this in Cpanel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18433 — 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-2017-18433 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