CVE-2018-20864
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 · uneditedcPanel before 76.0.8 allows a persistent Virtual FTP accounts after removal of its associated domain (SEC-454).
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 confidencecPanel before version 76.0.8 contains a vulnerability where Virtual FTP accounts remain active and accessible even after their associated domain has been removed from the hosting environment. This creates orphaned FTP credentials that persist in the system, potentially allowing unauthorized access through stale account credentials.
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< 76.0.8CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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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Check the installed cPanel versionRun the command 'whmapi1 version' or check /usr/local/cpanel/version'Affected if The installed version is lower than 76.0.8
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Identify Virtual FTP accountsNavigate to FTP Accounts in cPanel or use the command line to list all FTP accounts configured in the systemAffected if Virtual FTP accounts exist that were created for domains no longer hosted on the server
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Verify associated domains still existFor each Virtual FTP account identified, check whether the domain it was created for is still active in the hosting environment by reviewing the domain list in cPanelAffected if Any Virtual FTP account maps to a domain that has been removed from the hosting environment
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Test FTP access with orphaned credentialsAttempt to authenticate using a Virtual FTP account credentials for a deleted domain to verify if access is still grantedAffected if Authentication succeeds using credentials from a Virtual FTP account whose associated domain no longer exists
The environment is affected if cPanel version is below 76.0.8 and orphaned Virtual FTP accounts exist for removed domains.
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 data76.0.8
Upgrade cPanel to version 76.0.8 or later to patch this vulnerability. Additionally, audit existing FTP accounts to identify and remove any orphaned Virtual FTP accounts that may exist from previously deleted domains.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20864 — 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-2018-20864 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data