CVE-2018-9921
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 · uneditedIn CMS Made Simple 2.2.7, a Directory Traversal issue makes it possible to determine the existence of files and directories outside the web-site installation directory, and determine whether a file has contents matching a specified checksum. The attack uses an admin/checksum.php?__c= request.
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 confidenceIn CMS Made Simple 2.2.7, the admin/checksum.php endpoint contains a directory traversal vulnerability allowing authenticated administrators to determine the existence of files and directories outside the webroot and verify if file contents match a specified checksum.
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= 2.2.7CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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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Identify installed CMS Made Simple versionLocate the version file in the CMS installation directory, typically found in lib/version.php or admin/siteprefs.php, or check the admin dashboard for the version numberAffected if Installed version is exactly 2.2.7
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Verify admin/checksum.php existsCheck if the file admin/checksum.php exists in the webroot of the CMS Made Simple installationAffected if The file exists in the expected location
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Confirm admin access is possibleAttempt to access the admin/checksum.php endpoint or verify that administrator credentials exist for the CMS Made Simple installationAffected if An authenticated administrator account exists or can be accessed
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Check for vulnerable parameter handlingInspect the admin/checksum.php file source code for the 'filename' or similar parameter that accepts user input and is used in file operations without proper sanitizationAffected if The endpoint accepts path parameters without traversal validation
A user is affected if running exactly version 2.2.7 with the admin/checksum.php endpoint accessible to an authenticated administrator, allowing directory traversal via path parameters.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched version of CMS Made Simple; if immediate patching is not feasible, restrict admin directory access to trusted users and implement web server-level access controls.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-9921 — 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-2018-9921 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