CVE-2018-20905
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 71.9980.37 allows attackers to make API calls that bypass the backup feature restriction (SEC-429).
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 confidencecPanel before version 71.9980.37 contains a vulnerability where attackers can make API calls that bypass backup feature restrictions. This allows unauthorized access to backup functionality through the API, potentially enabling attackers to access or manipulate backup data they should not have 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>= 61.9999.55, < 62.0.47>= 67.9999.64, < 68.0.39>= 69.9999.122, < 70.0.43>= 71.9980.30, < 71.9980.37CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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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Identify the installed cPanel versionRun the command: /usr/local/cpanel/cpanel -V or check /var/cpanel/versionAffected if The version falls within any of these ranges: 61.9999.55 to 62.0.46, 67.9999.64 to 68.0.38, 69.9999.122 to 70.0.42, or 71.9980.30 to 71.9980.36
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Verify API access controls for backup featuresExamine the cPanel API configuration files in /var/cpanel/api/ and check if backup-related API endpoints have proper authentication and authorization controls configuredAffected if API endpoints related to backups (such as api2_cpsess_backup_* or similar) are accessible without proper restriction enforcement
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Check if backup feature is enabled for unprivileged usersReview /var/cpanel/users/ directory for user-level backup configuration files and inspect whether API-based backup operations can be initiated by accounts without explicit backup privilegesAffected if Users without backup admin privileges can successfully invoke backup API calls that should be restricted
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Confirm API logging shows unauthorized backup access attemptsReview cPanel API logs in /usr/local/cpanel/logs/ for any backup-related API calls from users that should lack backup feature permissionsAffected if API logs show backup operations completed successfully for users who should have been denied access based on backup feature restrictions
If the cPanel version is less than 71.9980.37 and falls within any of the affected version ranges, and the environment uses the backup API feature, the system is likely affected by this authorization bypass vulnerability.
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 data62.0.4768.0.3970.0.43
Update cPanel to version 71.9980.37 or later to patch the vulnerability.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20905 — 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-2018-20905 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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