dbcve.org
TcexamApplication · Tecnick

CVE-2023-6554

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.1.0 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
When access to the "admin" folder is not protected by some external authorization mechanisms e.g. Apache Basic Auth, it is possible for any user to download protected information like exam answers.

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 confidence

This is an access control vulnerability where the application's 'admin' folder lacks proper built-in authorization checks. When external mechanisms like Apache Basic Auth are not configured, any unauthenticated user can directly access and download sensitive files such as exam answers by directly requesting URLs within the admin directory.

MitigationImplement proper authentication and authorization controls on the admin folder, either through web server configuration (e.g., Apache Basic Auth, IP restrictions) or application-level access controls to ensure only authorized personnel can access sensitive resources.

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
TcexamApplication
Affected:< 15.1.0

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Confirm Tecnick Tcexam installation
    Locate the Tcexam application in your web server document root. Verify the presence of the /admin directory which is characteristic of this application.
    Affected if Tecnick Tcexam with its admin folder is present on the server
  2. Determine installed version
    Find the version file in the Tcexam installation (commonly version.php or similar) and read the version number. Compare it to 15.1.0.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 15.1.0
  3. Test admin folder web accessibility
    Send an HTTP request directly to the admin directory URL (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/tcexam/admin/) without any credentials. Observe whether you receive an HTTP 200 response or are immediately allowed access.
    Affected if The admin directory returns HTTP 200 or allows access without requiring authentication
  4. Check for external authentication on admin folder
    Examine web server configuration files (httpd.conf, .htaccess, virtual host configs) for the admin directory path. Look for directives like AuthType Basic, require valid-user, or IP-based Allow/Deny rules that would protect the folder.
    Affected if No Apache Basic Auth, IP restrictions, or other web server authentication is configured for the admin folder
  5. Verify application-level authorization is absent
    Access the admin folder directly via browser or curl without logging into the application. If sensitive files (such as exam data, answer sheets, or configuration files) can be downloaded without any login prompt, the application-level controls are missing.
    Affected if Sensitive files within the admin directory can be accessed without any authentication challenge

Your environment is affected if you are running Tecnick Tcexam version below 15.1.0 AND the admin folder is accessible over the web without Apache Basic Auth, IP restrictions, or application-level authentication protecting it.

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 15.1.0 or later
Fixed in 15.1.0
Interim mitigation

Implement proper authentication and authorization controls on the admin folder, either through web server configuration (e.g., Apache Basic Auth, IP restrictions) or application-level access controls to ensure only authorized personnel can access sensitive resources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

15.1.0

  1. 1. Back up the current Tcexam installation and database before proceeding
  2. 2. Download Tcexam version 15.1.0 from the official tcexam.org source
  3. 3. Extract and install the new version, overwriting existing files while preserving configuration
  4. 4. Verify the admin folder now requires proper authentication
  5. 5. Test that unauthenticated users can no longer access protected exam information
Caveat Review custom configurations and plugins for compatibility with version 15.1.0 before deploying to production

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

Fix this in Tcexam Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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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-2023-6554 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