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LimesurveyApplication

CVE-2019-25019

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.19.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
LimeSurvey before 4.0.0-RC4 allows SQL injection via the participant model.

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

SQL injection vulnerability in LimeSurvey's participant model allows attackers to inject malicious SQL queries through unsanitized input, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, data manipulation, or complete database compromise.

MitigationUpgrade LimeSurvey to version 4.0.0-RC4 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement input validation and web application firewall rules as temporary mitigation.

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
LimesurveyApplication
Affected:< 3.19.0= 4.0.0

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Check LimeSurvey installed version
    Locate the version file or admin interface (typically at /admin/index.php or check version.php in the application root). The version is often displayed in the admin dashboard footer or can be retrieved via console command if available.
    Affected if The installed version is less than 3.19.0 OR the installed version equals exactly 4.0.0
  2. Identify if participant database feature is enabled
    In the LimeSurvey admin panel, navigate to the 'Participant' or 'Token' settings (usually under 'Survey' > 'Participants' or 'Tokens' in the side menu). Check if any participant databases or token tables have been created and are active.
    Affected if Participant/token functionality is actively used or configured with stored participant records
  3. Verify web server access to participant model endpoints
    Check web server logs (Apache/Nginx) for requests to participant-related endpoints such as /participants/sa/ or /tokens/ endpoints. Also check application routing configuration for unsanitized parameter passing to participant model functions.
    Affected if The application exposes participant model functionality via web accessible endpoints without proper input sanitization controls
  4. Inspect database user privileges
    Review the database credentials used by LimeSurvey in config.php (or config/db.php). Verify if the database user has privileges beyond what the application requires (such as DROP, GRANT, or file operations).
    Affected if The LimeSurvey database user has elevated privileges beyond SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE which could allow exploitation to escalate to full database compromise

You are affected if your LimeSurvey version is below 3.19.0 or exactly 4.0.0 AND the participant/token feature is enabled and web-accessible.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.19.0 or later
Fixed in 3.19.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade LimeSurvey to version 4.0.0-RC4 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement input validation and web application firewall rules as temporary mitigation.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

4.0.0-RC4 or later stable release

  1. 1. Backup your current LimeSurvey installation and database before proceeding with any upgrade.
  2. 2. Download LimeSurvey version 4.0.0-RC4 or a later stable release from the official LimeSurvey repository (github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey).
  3. 3. Review the upgrade documentation for your specific migration path at docs.limesurvey.org.
  4. 4. Execute the upgrade following the standard upgrade procedure for your installation method.
  5. 5. Verify the participant model functionality works correctly post-upgrade.
  6. 6. Test that the SQL injection vulnerability is remediated by attempting the previously vulnerable query patterns.
Caveat Review the changelog between your current version and 4.0.0+ for any breaking changes, particularly regarding participant/survey token features

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Limesurvey Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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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-2019-25019 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