CVE-2018-10362
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '=='...
CVE-2018-10362 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Phpliteadmin, published April 25, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.49%, the 74th percentile. Fixed in phpliteadmin 1.9.7.1-2.
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
9.8
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
- Record
CVE-2018-10362- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
- Record
CVE-2018-10362- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-2436 No score
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
- Record
EUVD-2018-2436- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-pm5v-j6jx-wmr3
9.8
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '=='...
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
- Record
GHSA-pm5v-j6jx-wmr3- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
9.8
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
- Record
CVE-2018-10362- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2018-10362
9.8
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2018-10362- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2018-10362
9.8
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2018-10362- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
phpliteadminDebian:12 |
before 1.9.7.1-2 | 1.9.7.1-2 |
phpliteadminDebian:13 |
before 1.9.7.1-2 | 1.9.7.1-2 |
phpliteadminDebian:14 |
before 1.9.7.1-2 | 1.9.7.1-2 |
phpliteadminUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
before 1.9.7.1-1ubuntu0.1, plus listed versions 1.9.7.1-1 |
1.9.7.1-1ubuntu0.1 |
History
| When | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-03 | aliases | EUVD |
| 2026-11-02 | created | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
References
k3research.outerhaven.de/posts/small-mistakes-lead-to-big-problems.html
github.com/phpLiteAdmin/pla/issues/11
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-10362
github.com/advisories/GHSA-pm5v-j6jx-wmr3
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-10362
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-10362
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-10362