CVE-2019-12204
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 SilverStripe through 4.3.3, a missing warning about leaving install.php in a public webroot can lead to unauthenticated admin access.
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 confidenceIn SilverStripe CMS through version 4.3.3, the install.php file was left accessible in the public webroot without sufficient security warnings. This allows unauthenticated attackers to potentially re-run the installer or exploit installer functionality to gain administrative access to the CMS.
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>= 4.1.0, <= 4.3.3CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 SilverStripe versionLocate the SilverStripe version file (typically vendor/silverstripe/framework/composer.json or composer.lock in the project root) and extract the installed version numberAffected if The installed version is >= 4.1.0 and <= 4.3.3
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Locate install.php in webrootSearch the publicly accessible webroot directory for the file named install.php. This is typically in the same directory as the main index.php entry pointAffected if The file install.php exists in the web-accessible directory
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Verify web access to install.phpAttempt to access http://yourdomain/install.php via a web request (or check web server configuration for any rewrite rules that might allow/block this path)Affected if The install.php file responds to HTTP requests (returns a 200 response rather than 403/404)
You are affected if SilverStripe version is between 4.1.0 and 4.3.3 AND the install.php file exists and is accessible in the publicly accessible webroot.
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.
dbcve · scopedRemove the install.php file from the publicly accessible webroot immediately after installation, or configure web server rules to deny access to this file.
- 1. Navigate to your SilverStripe webroot directory
- 2. Locate the install.php file in the public/web root
- 3. Delete or remove the install.php file completely
- 4. Verify the file has been removed by checking that it no longer exists in the webroot
- 5. Ensure no other installation files remain publicly accessible (e.g., dev/build, installer files)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-12204 — 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-2019-12204 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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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.
- 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