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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
DotnetnukeApplication · Dnnsoftware

CVE-2018-15811

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-07-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges 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
DNN (aka DotNetNuke) 9.2 through 9.2.1 uses a weak encryption algorithm to protect input parameters.

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

DNN versions 9.2 through 9.2.1 implement a weak encryption algorithm to protect input parameters, allowing attackers to potentially decrypt or manipulate sensitive data transmitted through these parameters due to insufficient cryptographic protection.

MitigationUpgrade DNN to version 9.2.2 or later where the weak encryption has been replaced with a stronger algorithm, and audit any custom modules that may rely on the affected encryption functionality.

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
DotnetnukeApplication
Affected:>= 9.2, <= 9.2.1

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Check installed DNN version via admin interface
    Log into the DNN portal as a Host or Administrator, navigate to Host > Host Settings, and locate the 'Version' field under the 'Basic Settings' section. Alternatively, go to Persona Bar > Settings > Site Settings and check the About section.
    Affected if The displayed version number is 9.2.0, 9.2.1, or falls within the 9.2.x range up to and including 9.2.1
  2. Check version via web.config file
    Locate the web.config file in the DNN installation root directory. Open it and search for the 'version' key within the appSettings section, or check the assembly information in the <assembly> tags if available.
    Affected if The version referenced in the configuration is 9.2.0 through 9.2.1 inclusive
  3. Check version via ReleaseNotes.txt
    Navigate to the DNN installation directory and locate the ReleaseNotes.txt file (or Version.txt). Open the file and read the version number stated at the top.
    Affected if The version listed is between 9.2.0 and 9.2.1 inclusive
  4. Verify encryption module is in use
    Review the DNN installation for custom encryption modules or handlers that process user input parameters. Check the web.config for custom encryption providers under the machineKey section or any custom cryptographic handlers in the bin folder.
    Affected if The weak encryption implementation from versions 9.2-9.2.1 is actively handling sensitive parameters and the version check confirms the vulnerable release

A user is affected if their DNN installation shows version 9.2.0 or 9.2.1 (or any version between 9.2 and 9.2.1), as these versions contain the weak encryption algorithm vulnerability.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 9.2.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade DNN to version 9.2.2 or later where the weak encryption has been replaced with a stronger algorithm, and audit any custom modules that may rely on the affected encryption functionality.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

DNN 9.2.2 or later

  1. 1. Back up your DNN database and all site files before making any changes.
  2. 2. Download the latest stable DNN version (9.2.2 or later) from the official DNN repository.
  3. 3. Follow DNN's official upgrade instructions to apply the new version.
  4. 4. Verify that the encryption mechanism has been strengthened by confirming the site functions normally.
  5. 5. Test critical functionality that relies on protected input parameters.
Caveat Review DNN release notes for version 9.2.2 for any breaking changes or migration requirements before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Dotnetnuke Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2018-15811 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