CVE-2019-14409
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 78.0.2 allows arbitrary file-read operations via Passenger adminbin (SEC-466).
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 78.0.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the Passenger adminbin component that allows authenticated attackers to read arbitrary files on the filesystem, potentially exposing sensitive configuration files, credentials, or user data.
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< 78.0.2CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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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Check cPanel versionRun 'whmapi1 version' or check /usr/local/cpanel/version' to retrieve the installed cPanel version numberAffected if The installed version is lower than 78.0.2
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Verify Passenger adminbin accessibilityConfirm the Passenger module is enabled and the adminbin component is accessible to authenticated users in your environmentAffected if Passenger adminbin is enabled and accessible to user accounts
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Review access logs for path traversal patternsSearch cPanel access logs and Apache error logs for unusual requests containing '../' sequences targeting the Passenger adminbin endpointAffected if Logs contain requests with directory traversal patterns to Passenger adminbin that accessed files outside expected directories
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Check for unauthorized file accessInspect system logs and audit trails for authenticated user sessions that accessed sensitive configuration files outside their home directoryAffected if Evidence exists of users reading files they should not have access to
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Verify file permissions on sensitive directoriesReview file system permissions on /etc, /var/cpanel, and other system directories to confirm they prevent read access from unprivileged cPanel accountsAffected if World-readable permissions exist on sensitive configuration directories that should be restricted
The environment is affected if the cPanel version is below 78.0.2 AND the Passenger adminbin component is accessible to authenticated users, allowing potential path traversal attacks.
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 data78.0.2
Upgrade cPanel to version 78.0.2 or later to patch the path traversal vulnerability in the Passenger adminbin.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-14409 — 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-2019-14409 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