CVE-2018-12909
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 · uneditedWebgrind 1.5 relies on user input to display a file, which lets anyone view files from the local filesystem (that the webserver user has access to) via an index.php?op=fileviewer&file= URI. NOTE: the vendor indicates that the product is not intended for a "publicly accessible environment.
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 confidenceWebgrind 1.5 contains a local file inclusion (LFI) vulnerability in the fileviewer functionality. The application uses unsanitized user input from the 'file' parameter in index.php?op=fileviewer&file= to determine which file to display, allowing authenticated or unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files from the local filesystem that the webserver process has read access to.
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= 1.5.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Verify Webgrind installationLocate the webgrind installation directory on the server (commonly in web root, e.g., /var/www/html/webgrind or similar). Look for index.php and confirm the application is Webgrind.Affected if Webgrind is present on the server.
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Confirm installed version is 1.5.0Check the version file, composer.json, or the main index.php for version information. Compare against the affected version 1.5.0.Affected if The installed version is exactly 1.5.0.
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Test fileviewer endpoint accessibilityAccess the URL pattern: /index.php?op=fileviewer&file=test to confirm the fileviewer functionality is active and responding.Affected if The fileviewer functionality returns a valid page or error message.
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Check for LFI vulnerability via path traversalSend a request to index.php?op=fileviewer&file=../../../etc/passwd or similar path traversal sequence. If the file content is displayed or returned, the LFI exists.Affected if The 'file' parameter reflects the content of files outside the intended directory.
The environment is affected if Webgrind version 1.5.0 is installed and the fileviewer functionality is accessible, allowing path traversal through the 'file' parameter to read arbitrary local files.
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 webgrind access to trusted networks only (per vendor guidance), and implement strict input validation/allowlisting on the file parameter to prevent path traversal attacks. Consider disabling unnecessary file read functions or using a whitelist of permitted files.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12909 — 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-2018-12909 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
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