CVE-2019-14405
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 78.0.18 allows demo accounts to execute code via securitypolicy.cg (SEC-487).
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 78.0.18 contains an authorization bypass vulnerability in the securitypolicy.cg component that allows demo accounts to execute arbitrary code. This appears to be a privilege escalation issue where the demo account restriction is not properly enforced on the security policy CGI module.
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< 78.0.18CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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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Identify installed cPanel versionLog into WHM and navigate to Server Status > cPanel Version, or run 'cat /usr/local/cpanel/version' via command lineAffected if The installed version is lower than 78.0.18 (for example, 78.0.17, 76.x, or earlier)
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Determine if demo accounts existRun 'ls /var/cpanel/suspended/demo' or check WHM > List Demo Accounts to see if any demo accounts are present on the serverAffected if One or more demo accounts exist on the system
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Verify securitypolicy.cg endpoint accessibilityAttempt to access the securitypolicy.cg endpoint via web browser or curl (for example, http://server_ip/cgi-sys/securitypolicy.cg), or check if the CGI module is present in /usr/local/cpanel/cgi-sys/Affected if The securitypolicy.cg script is accessible and responds to requests without proper authorization checks
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Confirm demo account can access security policy CGIFrom a demo account session, attempt to access the securitypolicy.cg endpoint to see if the demo account restriction is bypassedAffected if A demo account can access securitypolicy.cg and execute functionality that should be restricted to regular accounts
The environment is affected if cPanel version is below 78.0.18 AND demo accounts exist AND the securitypolicy.cg endpoint is accessible to those demo accounts, allowing unauthorized code execution.
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 data78.0.18
Upgrade cPanel to version 78.0.18 or later to patch the vulnerability. Until then, disable demo account functionality if possible and restrict access to the securitypolicy.cg endpoint.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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-2019-14405 — 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-2019-14405 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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