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CpanelApplication

CVE-2020-10120

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 84.0.20 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
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 84.0.20 allows resellers to achieve remote code execution as root via a cpsrvd rsync shell (SEC-545).

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

cPanel before version 84.0.20 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the cpsrvd rsync shell functionality that allows authenticated reseller accounts to execute arbitrary code with root privileges, leading to full system compromise.

MitigationUpgrade cPanel to version 84.0.20 or later to patch the vulnerability. Restrict reseller account permissions as a compensating control until the upgrade can be performed.

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:< 84.0.20

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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. Confirm cPanel is installed
    Check for the presence of the cPanel directory structure at /usr/local/cpanel or run: whmapi1 version
    Affected if cPanel is not installed, this CVE does not apply
  2. Identify the installed cPanel version
    Run: /usr/local/cpanel/bin/build_cpanel_metadata --force && cat /usr/local/cpanel/version (or use: whmapi1 version)
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 84.0.20 (e.g., 84.0.19, 82.x, etc.)
  3. Determine if cpsrvd rsync shell functionality is enabled
    Inspect cPanel service configuration files or check WHM > Service Configuration >cPanel WebServices configuration for rsync shell access; also check /var/cpanel/features for rsync-related flags
    Affected if The rsync shell feature is explicitly enabled in the cPanel service configuration
  4. Check for existing reseller accounts
    Run: whmapi1 listresellers (or check the /var/cpanel/resellers file) to enumerate reseller accounts on the system
    Affected if Any reseller accounts exist on the system

The system is affected if cPanel is installed with a version below 84.0.20, the cpsrvd rsync shell feature is enabled, and a reseller account exists that could exploit the privilege escalation to root.

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 84.0.20 or later
Fixed in 84.0.20
Interim mitigation

Upgrade cPanel to version 84.0.20 or later to patch the vulnerability. Restrict reseller account permissions as a compensating control until the upgrade can be performed.

Fix this in Cpanel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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-2020-10120 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