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WebpanelApplication · Control Webpanel

CVE-2020-15431

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of CentOS Web Panel cwp-e17.0.9.8.923. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within ajax_crons.php. When parsing the user parameter, the process does not properly validate a user-supplied string before using it to execute a system call. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of root. Was ZDI-CAN-9740.

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

Unauthenticated command injection in CentOS Web Panel's ajax_crons.php. The user parameter is not validated before being passed to a system call, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code as root.

MitigationApply vendor patch immediately if available; otherwise restrict network access to ajax_crons.php and consider temporarily disabling the cron functionality until patched.

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
WebpanelApplication
Affected:= 0.9.8.923

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. Identify CentOS Web Panel version
    Run command: rpm -qa | grep -i cwp or check /usr/local/cwp/.version file
    Affected if Installed version equals 0.9.8.923
  2. Locate ajax_crons.php file
    Check for file existence at /usr/local/cwpsrv/htdocs/resources/admin/include/ajax_crons.php or similar paths under /usr/local/cwp
    Affected if ajax_crons.php file exists on the server
  3. Verify cron module is enabled
    Check if cron-related routes or the ajax_crons.php endpoint responds to HTTP requests (e.g., curl http://<server>/ajax_crons.php)
    Affected if The ajax_crons.php endpoint is accessible via web
  4. Confirm no authentication is required
    Attempt to access ajax_crons.php without credentials to verify the endpoint accepts unauthenticated requests
    Affected if ajax_crons.php responds to unauthenticated requests (status 200 rather than 401/403)

You are affected if running CentOS Web Panel version 0.9.8.923 and the ajax_crors.php file exists and accepts unauthenticated requests.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor patch immediately if available; otherwise restrict network access to ajax_crons.php and consider temporarily disabling the cron functionality until patched.

Fix this in Webpanel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,280
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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-2020-15431 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