CVE-2020-15606
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 · uneditedThis 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_admin_apis.php. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of 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-9720.
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 confidenceUnauthenticated command injection vulnerability in CentOS Web Panel's ajax_admin_apis.php. The application fails to validate user-supplied input before passing it to a system call, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with root privileges without any authentication.
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= 0.9.8.923CVSS 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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Verify CentOS Web Panel installationLook for CentOS Web Panel by checking if the control panel interface is accessible on common ports (2030, 2031) or check for the package via system package managerAffected if CentOS Web Panel is installed and exposed on the system
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Check the installed versionAccess the admin panel and navigate to the version information page, or check the version file in the CWP installation directory if knownAffected if The installed version is exactly 0.9.8.923
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Locate the vulnerable ajax_admin_apis.php fileCheck for the presence of ajax_admin_apis.php in the CWP web root directory (typically under /usr/local/cwpsrv/htdocs/ or the document root for the control panel)Affected if The file ajax_admin_apis.php exists in the CWP web directory
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Check network exposureVerify that the CWP admin interface is exposed to the network. Test if the ajax_admin_apis.php endpoint is reachable from unauthorized networks using curl or similar: curl http://<server-ip>:<port>/ajax_admin_apis.phpAffected if The ajax_admin_apis.php endpoint is reachable from untrusted networks without authentication
A system is affected if CentOS Web Panel version 0.9.8.923 is installed and the ajax_admin_apis.php file is present and network-accessible without authentication.
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 dataImmediately patch CentOS Web Panel to the latest version. If patching is not immediately possible, restrict network access to the control panel interface via firewall rules or remove the vulnerable ajax_admin_apis.php from production until a patch is applied.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15606 — 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-2020-15606 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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- 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
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