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Concrete CmsApplication · Concretecms

CVE-2023-48648

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.5.13 / 9.2.2 or later.
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
Concrete CMS before 8.5.13 and 9.x before 9.2.2 allows unauthorized access because directories can be created with insecure permissions. File creation functions (such as the Mkdir() function) gives universal access (0777) to created folders by default. Excessive permissions can be granted when creating a directory with permissions greater than 0755 or when the permissions argument is not specified.

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

Concrete CMS contains a permissions vulnerability where the Mkdir() function creates directories with overly permissive 0777 (read/write/execute for everyone) permissions by default. When the permissions argument is not specified or set greater than 0755, any local user can access, modify, or execute files within these directories, leading to potential unauthorized access and privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade Concrete CMS to version 8.5.13+/9.2.2+ which enforces secure default directory permissions (0755), or manually audit and remediate directory permissions across the application.

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
Concrete CmsApplication
Affected:< 8.5.13>= 9.0, < 9.2.2

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 Concrete CMS version
    Locate the version file or dashboard: check for a version.php file in the application root or log into the admin dashboard to view the version number under Help > About or System Information.
    Affected if The version is less than 8.5.13, or greater than or equal to 9.0 but less than 9.2.2
  2. Locate Mkdir function calls in source code
    Search the application source code for mkdir() or Mkdir() function calls that do not specify a permission parameter (the second argument), or where the permission parameter is explicitly set to 0777 or values greater than 0755.
    Affected if Mkdir() calls exist without a permission argument or with permissions set higher than 0755
  3. Inspect recently created directories for permissions
    Use the 'ls -ld' command on directories within the concrete installation, particularly upload folders, storage directories, and application data folders. Check the permission bits displayed.
    Affected if Directories show 0777 permissions (drwxrwxrwx) instead of the expected 0755 (drwxr-xr-x)
  4. Review file storage configuration
    Check the application configuration files (typically in config/ or application/config/) for directory paths and any custom permission settings used by the storage mechanism.
    Affected if Custom directory paths are configured but no explicit permission enforcement (0755 or stricter) is defined

You are affected if your Concrete CMS version falls within < 8.5.13 or >= 9.0 to < 9.2.2 AND directories with overly permissive 0777 permissions exist in your installation.

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 8.5.13 / 9.2.2 or later
Fixed in 8.5.139.2.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Concrete CMS to version 8.5.13+/9.2.2+ which enforces secure default directory permissions (0755), or manually audit and remediate directory permissions across the application.

Recommended fix High confidence

Concrete CMS 8.5.13 (for 8.x) or 9.2.2 (for 9.x)

  1. Backup your database and all files before proceeding with any upgrade
  2. Identify your current Concrete CMS version (8.x or 9.x) from your dashboard or composer.json
  3. For Concrete CMS 8.x: Upgrade to version 8.5.13
  4. For Concrete CMS 9.x: Upgrade to version 9.2.2
  5. Download the appropriate version from the official Concrete CMS repository or use composer to update (composer require concretecms/composer:8.5.13 or concretecms/composer:9.2.2)
  6. Follow the standard Concrete CMS upgrade procedure: put site in maintenance mode, replace core files, run /ccm/system/upgrade if applicable
  7. Clear all caches after upgrade via Dashboard > Troubleshooting > Clear Cache
  8. Verify the fix by checking that newly created directories have proper permissions (0755 or stricter, not 0777)

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

Fix this in Concrete Cms Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,780
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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-2023-48648 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