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CpanelApplication

CVE-2019-20490

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 78.0.43 / 82.0.18 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
cPanel before 82.0.18 allows authentication bypass because webmail usernames are processed inconsistently (SEC-499).

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 confidence

cPanel before version 82.0.18 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in its webmail interface. The issue stems from inconsistent processing of webmail usernames during authentication, allowing attackers to potentially gain unauthorized access to user accounts.

MitigationUpgrade cPanel to version 82.0.18 or later to remediate this authentication bypass vulnerability.

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
CpanelApplication
Affected:>= 77.9999.110, < 78.0.43>= 81.9999.242, < 82.0.18>= 83.9999.115, < 84.0.10

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. Identify cPanel version
    Run command: /usr/local/cpanel/cpanel -V or check /usr/local/cpanel/version
    Affected if Installed version falls within ranges: 77.9999.110 to 78.0.42, 81.9999.242 to 82.0.17, or 83.9999.115 to 84.0.9
  2. Verify webmail access is enabled
    Check cPanel user configuration for webmail service status via WHM API or in /var/cpanel/users/username file for webmail=1 entry
    Affected if Webmail is enabled for the account (webmail=1) and version is in affected range

User is affected if cPanel version is below 78.0.43, below 82.0.18, or below 84.0.10 AND webmail interface is accessible/enabled for their account.

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 78.0.43 / 82.0.18 / 84.0.10 or later
Fixed in 78.0.4382.0.1884.0.10
Interim mitigation

Upgrade cPanel to version 82.0.18 or later to remediate this authentication bypass vulnerability.

Fix this in Cpanel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-20490 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