CVE-2018-14836
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 · uneditedSubrion 4.2.1 is vulnerable to Improper Access control because user groups not having access to the Admin panel are able to access it (but not perform actions) if the Guests user group has access to the Admin panel.
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 confidenceSubrion CMS 4.2.1 has an Improper Access Control vulnerability where user groups without admin panel permissions can still access the admin panel interface (view-only) when the Guest user group has been granted admin panel access. This represents a vertical privilege escalation allowing unauthorized visibility into administrative functions.
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= 4.2.1CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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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Confirm Subrion CMS versionLocate the version file or admin panel about page - typically found in /includes/version.php, /changelog.txt, or via Admin Dashboard > Configuration > AboutAffected if Installed version is exactly 4.2.1
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Check Guest group admin panel permissionNavigate to Admin Dashboard > User Groups > Permissions (or similar permissions section) and verify if the Guest (or Public) group has any admin panel access enabledAffected if Guest user group has admin panel access (view-only or any level) granted in group permissions
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Verify non-admin group admin panel accessCreate or use a test user account belonging to a non-administrative user group (not Admin), then attempt to access the admin panel URL directlyAffected if Non-admin users can view or access the admin panel interface despite lacking admin permissions
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Inspect user group permission configurationReview the user group permission settings in the database (typically table ia_acl or similar) or configuration file to see which groups are mapped to admin panel access rightsAffected if Multiple user groups have admin panel access enabled, or permissions are incorrectly inherited from the Guest group configuration
You are affected if running Subrion CMS 4.2.1 AND the Guest group has admin panel access enabled, allowing users without admin privileges to view administrative interface elements.
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 dataReview and correct user group permission configurations in Subrion to ensure only intended administrative groups have access to the admin panel, and implement proper server-side authorization checks regardless of guest group settings.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14836 — 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-2018-14836 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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