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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
RconfigApplication

CVE-2020-10221

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.9.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit 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
lib/ajaxHandlers/ajaxAddTemplate.php in rConfig through 3.94 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands via shell metacharacters in the fileName POST parameter.

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

OS command injection vulnerability in rConfig's ajaxAddTemplate.php handler. The fileName POST parameter is passed to a shell execution function without sanitization, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary OS commands via shell metacharacters. This is a classic command injection flaw in a PHP web application that processes network configuration templates.

MitigationImplement strict input validation on the fileName parameter to reject any shell metacharacters, or refactor to use safe API calls that avoid shell execution entirely. Update to rConfig version 3.95 or later if a patched version is available.

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
RconfigApplication
Affected:<= 3.9.4

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 rConfig installation and version
    Locate the rConfig installation directory (commonly in web root such as /var/www/html or similar). Look for a version file or check the application login page for the version number. Common files to check include version.php, a changelog file, or the footer of the web interface.
    Affected if The installed version is rConfig 3.9.4 or any earlier version.
  2. Locate the vulnerable ajaxAddTemplate.php file
    Search the web root for the file ajaxAddTemplate.php. This file is typically found within the /inc or /includes directory of the rConfig installation.
    Affected if The file ajaxAddTemplate.php exists in the web-accessible directory.
  3. Verify the web server exposes the rConfig application
    Confirm that the rConfig web interface is accessible over HTTP/HTTPS. The vulnerability is exploitable through the web application endpoint that handles the fileName POST parameter.
    Affected if The rConfig web application is running and reachable, making the vulnerable endpoint accessible.
  4. Confirm the fileName parameter handling is enabled
    The vulnerability exists in the ajaxAddTemplate.php file processing the fileName POST parameter without sanitization. No special configuration needs to be enabled for this flaw to apply; it is present by default in affected versions.
    Affected if The web server processes requests to ajaxAddTemplate.php and accepts the fileName parameter without additional authentication barriers.

A system is affected if rConfig version 3.9.4 or lower is installed and the ajaxAddTemplate.php file is present and accessible via the web server.

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 a release after 3.9.4
Interim mitigation

Implement strict input validation on the fileName parameter to reject any shell metacharacters, or refactor to use safe API calls that avoid shell execution entirely. Update to rConfig version 3.95 or later if a patched version is available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest stable rConfig release (check GitHub releases for post-3.9.4 version with security fixes)

  1. 1. Back up the current rConfig installation and database before making any changes.
  2. 2. Download the latest stable version of rConfig from the official GitHub repository (github.com/rconfig/rconfig).
  3. 3. Review the release notes to confirm the version includes a fix for CVE-2020-10221.
  4. 4. Install the new version following the standard upgrade documentation.
  5. 5. Verify the fix by confirming the fileName parameter in lib/ajaxHandlers/ajaxAddTemplate.php now properly sanitizes input and rejects shell metacharacters.
  6. 6. Test that the template add functionality works correctly with valid inputs.
  7. 7. If direct upgrade is not possible, implement input validation to filter characters like ; | & $ ` and whitespace from the fileName parameter before passing to shell functions.
Caveat Review breaking changes between 3.9.x and newer versions in release notes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Rconfig Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2020-10221 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