CVE-2020-14072
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in MK-AUTH 19.01. It allows command execution as root via shell metacharacters to /auth admin scripts.
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 confidenceMK-AUTH 19.01 contains a critical command injection vulnerability in its /auth admin scripts. The application fails to properly sanitize user input, allowing attackers to inject shell metacharacters and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges. This can be exploited remotely without authentication given the CVSS 9.8 rating.
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= 19.01CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify MK-AUTH installation and versionLocate the MK-AUTH installation directory and check the version file or header. Common locations may include /var/www/html/mk-auth or similar web root directories. Look for version indicators in the application.Affected if The installed version is MK-AUTH version 19.01 exactly
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Verify /auth endpoint is accessibleCheck if the /auth admin scripts are exposed and accessible via HTTP/HTTPS. Attempt to access the endpoint using a web browser or curl command to the /auth path.Affected if The /auth scripts are reachable and respond to requests without requiring authentication
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Inspect application input handling in /auth scriptsExamine the source code of the /auth admin scripts for instances where user-supplied input is passed directly to shell execution functions (such as exec, system, passthru, shell_exec) without proper sanitization.Affected if The /auth scripts contain code that passes user input directly to shell command functions without sanitization
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Test for command injection vulnerabilityIf you have authorization and are in an authorized testing environment, send a request to the /auth endpoint containing shell metacharacters (such as semicolons or pipe symbols) followed by a test command to observe if command execution occurs.Affected if The application executes injected shell commands and returns their output
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Check for evidence of prior exploitationReview web server access logs and application logs for suspicious requests to /auth endpoints containing shell metacharacters, unusual commands, or patterns indicative of command injection attempts.Affected if Logs show requests with shell metacharacters to /auth scripts or evidence of unexpected command execution
You are affected if MK-AUTH version 19.01 is installed and the /auth admin scripts are accessible and process user input without sanitization.
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 dataImplement strict input validation and sanitization on all /auth scripts, avoiding shell command execution with user-supplied data. If shell commands are unavoidable, use parameterized methods or whitelisted input patterns.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-14072 — 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-2020-14072 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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