CVE-2019-20493
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 82.0.18 allows self-XSS because JSON string escaping is mishandled (SEC-520).
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 82.0.18 contains a self-XSS vulnerability caused by improper JSON string escaping. This allows an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code that executes in the context of the authenticated user's session when the crafted payload is reflected in the web interface.
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>= 77.9999.110, < 78.0.43>= 81.9999.242, < 82.0.18>= 83.9999.115, < 84.0.10CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 installed cPanel versionRun `cat /usr/local/cpanel/version` or `whmapi1 version` to retrieve the installed cPanel version numberAffected if The version returned is less than 78.0.43 (if starting with 78.x), less than 82.0.18 (if starting with 82.x), or less than 84.0.10 (if starting with 84.x) - also affected if version is 77.9999.110 or higher but less than 78.0.43, or 81.9999.242 or higher but less than 82.0.18, or 83.9999.115 or high
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Verify web interface is accessibleConfirm the cPanel or WHM web interface is reachable and user authentication is possibleAffected if The web interface is active, as the XSS payload executes in the context of an authenticated user's session
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Identify vulnerable JSON endpointInspect web requests that involve JSON responses in the cPanel interface for potential reflection pointsAffected if User-supplied input is reflected in JSON responses without proper escaping, allowing script injection
You are affected if your cPanel version falls within any of these ranges: 77.9999.110 to 78.0.42, 81.9999.242 to 82.0.17, or 83.9999.115 to 84.0.9
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 data78.0.4382.0.1884.0.10
Upgrade cPanel to version 82.0.18 or later to remediate the JSON string escaping vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-20493 — 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-2019-20493 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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