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CVE-2019-9859

Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP) 0.9.7 through 0.9.8-23 is vulnerable to an authenticated command...

8.8 High

Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP) 0.9.7 through 0.9.8-23 is vulnerable to an authenticated command execution that can result in remote root access on the server. The platform works with PHP as the frontend language and uses shell scripts to execute system actions. PHP executes shell script through the dangerous command exec. This function can be dangerous if arguments passed to it are not filtered. Every user input in VestaCP that is used as an argument is filtered with the escapeshellarg function. This function comes from the PHP library directly and its description is as follows: "escapeshellarg() adds single quotes around a string and quotes/escapes any existing single quotes allowing you to pass a string directly to a shell function and having it be treated as a single safe argument." It means that if you give Username, it will have 'Username' as a replacement. This works well and protects users from exploiting this potentially dangerous exec function. Unfortunately, VestaCP uses this escapeshellarg function incorrectly in several places.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

3.00%Up 2.3 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 8.8

Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP) 0.9.7 through 0.9.8-23 is vulnerable to an authenticated command execution that can result in remote root access on the server. The platform works with PHP as the frontend language and uses shell scripts to execute system actions. PHP executes shell script through the dangerous command exec. This function can be dangerous if arguments passed to it are not filtered. Every user input in VestaCP that is used as an argument is filtered with the escapeshellarg function. This function comes from the PHP library directly and its description is as follows: "escapeshellarg() adds single quotes around a string and quotes/escapes any existing single quotes allowing you to pass a string directly to a shell function and having it be treated as a single safe argument." It means that if you give Username, it will have 'Username' as a replacement. This works well and protects users from exploiting this potentially dangerous exec function. Unfortunately, VestaCP uses this escapeshellarg function incorrectly in several places.

Record
CVE-2019-9859
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
9.0 HighAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C
Weakness
CWE-78
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP) 0.9.7 through 0.9.8-23 is vulnerable to an authenticated command execution that can result in remote root access on the server. The platform works with PHP as the frontend language and uses shell scripts to execute system actions. PHP executes shell script through the dangerous command exec. This function can be dangerous if arguments passed to it are not filtered. Every user input in VestaCP that is used as an argument is filtered with the escapeshellarg function. This function comes from the PHP library directly and its description is as follows: "escapeshellarg() adds single quotes around a string and quotes/escapes any existing single quotes allowing you to pass a string directly to a shell function and having it be treated as a single safe argument." It means that if you give Username, it will have 'Username' as a replacement. This works well and protects users from exploiting this potentially dangerous exec function. Unfortunately, VestaCP uses this escapeshellarg function incorrectly in several places.

Record
CVE-2019-9859
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2019-19215 No score

Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP) 0.9.7 through 0.9.8-23 is vulnerable to an authenticated command execution that can result in remote root access on the server. The platform works with PHP as the frontend language and uses shell scripts to execute system actions. PHP executes shell script through the dangerous command exec. This function can be dangerous if arguments passed to it are not filtered. Every user input in VestaCP that is used as an argument is filtered with the escapeshellarg function. This function comes from the PHP library directly and its description is as follows: "escapeshellarg() adds single quotes around a string and quotes/escapes any existing single quotes allowing you to pass a string directly to a shell function and having it be treated as a single safe argument." It means that if you give Username, it will have 'Username' as a replacement. This works well and protects users from exploiting this potentially dangerous exec function. Unfortunately, VestaCP uses this escapeshellarg function incorrectly in several places.

Record
EUVD-2019-19215
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-4fq8-68gc-cjqm No score

Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP) 0.9.7 through 0.9.8-23 is vulnerable to an authenticated command...

Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP) 0.9.7 through 0.9.8-23 is vulnerable to an authenticated command execution that can result in remote root access on the server. The platform works with PHP as the frontend language and uses shell scripts to execute system actions. PHP executes shell script through the dangerous command exec. This function can be dangerous if arguments passed to it are not filtered. Every user input in VestaCP that is used as an argument is filtered with the escapeshellarg function. This function comes from the PHP library directly and its description is as follows: "escapeshellarg() adds single quotes around a string and quotes/escapes any existing single quotes allowing you to pass a string directly to a shell function and having it be treated as a single safe argument." It means that if you give Username, it will have 'Username' as a replacement. This works well and protects users from exploiting this potentially dangerous exec function. Unfortunately, VestaCP uses this escapeshellarg function incorrectly in several places.

Record
GHSA-4fq8-68gc-cjqm
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 8.8

Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP) 0.9.7 through 0.9.8-23 is vulnerable to an authenticated command execution that can result in remote root access on the server. The platform works with PHP as the frontend language and uses shell scripts to execute system actions. PHP executes shell script through the dangerous command exec. This function can be dangerous if arguments passed to it are not filtered. Every user input in VestaCP that is used as an argument is filtered with the escapeshellarg function. This function comes from the PHP library directly and its description is as follows: "escapeshellarg() adds single quotes around a string and quotes/escapes any existing single quotes allowing you to pass a string directly to a shell function and having it be treated as a single safe argument." It means that if you give Username, it will have 'Username' as a replacement. This works well and protects users from exploiting this potentially dangerous exec function. Unfortunately, VestaCP uses this escapeshellarg function incorrectly in several places.

Record
CVE-2019-9859
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2019-9859 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.8) in Vestacp Vesta Control Panel, published March 10, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 3.00%, the 87th percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

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