ContaoApplication

CVE-2019-19745

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.8.5 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 · unedited
Contao 4.0 through 4.8.5 allows PHP local file inclusion. A back end user with access to the form generator can upload arbitrary files and execute them on the server.

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 confidence

Contao 4.0 through 4.8.5 contains a PHP local file inclusion vulnerability in the form generator module. An authenticated backend user with access to the form generator can upload arbitrary files (including malicious PHP files) and execute them on the server, leading to remote code execution.

MitigationUpdate Contao to version 4.8.6 or later which contains the security patch. If immediate updating is not possible, restrict or disable the form generator module access to trusted administrator accounts only.

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
ContaoApplication
Affected:>= 4.4, <= 4.4.45>= 4.8, <= 4.8.5= 4.0= 4.1= 4.2= 4.3= 4.5= 4.6= 4.7

CVSS 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:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine installed Contao version
    Locate the Contao installation directory and check the composer.json file or the system information in the backend under 'System' > 'Settings' to find the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the following: >= 4.4 and <= 4.4.45; >= 4.8 and <= 4.8.5; or equals 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.5, 4.6, or 4.7
  2. Verify if form generator module is accessible
    Check user permissions in the backend under 'Users' > 'Users' or 'Users' > 'Groups' to see which user accounts have the 'Form generator' module enabled
    Affected if Any backend user account (besides the main administrator) has the form generator module permission granted
  3. Review upload directories for suspicious files
    Examine the 'assets' or 'files' directories (or custom upload paths configured in system settings) for unexpected PHP files or files with double extensions such as .php.jpg
    Affected if Any PHP files or files with malicious extensions are found in upload directories, particularly in locations reachable via the web root
  4. Check for new or unexpected backend users
    Review the user management section in the backend to identify any unauthorized user accounts that may have been created
    Affected if New backend users exist that were not created by known administrators

You are affected if your Contao installation version falls within the vulnerable range (4.0 through 4.8.5) AND any non-administrator user has access to the form generator module.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.8.5
Interim mitigation

Update Contao to version 4.8.6 or later which contains the security patch. If immediate updating is not possible, restrict or disable the form generator module access to trusted administrator accounts only.

Fix this in Contao Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,464.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-19745 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-19745 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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