CVE-2017-5613 cPanel CVE debrief

Who should care

Administrators and operators running cPanel cgiemail or cgiecho, especially systems that use custom or user-supplied template files. Security teams should treat it as a high-priority issue where those components are installed.

Technical summary

The NVD entry maps CVE-2017-5613 to CWE-134 and to the cpanel:cgiemail and cpanel:cgiecho CPEs. The published CVSS v3.0 vector is AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating high potential impact if the flaw is triggered and that user interaction is required under the NVD assessment. The vulnerability description identifies unsafe handling of format string specifiers in a template file.

Defensive priority

High. Prioritize any host that still has cgiemail or cgiecho installed or reachable, because the weakness is mapped to code-execution impact and the NVD score is 7.8 HIGH.

Recommended defensive actions

• Inventory systems for cPanel cgiemail and cgiecho installations.
• Apply the remediation guidance from the cPanel TSR-2017-0001 advisory.
• Disable or remove cgiemail and cgiecho if they are not required.
• Review template-file handling and limit who can modify template files.
• Restrict access to affected CGI components and monitor for unexpected CGI execution.
• Validate exposure using the official NVD and vendor references before and after remediation.

Evidence notes

NVD lists the affected products as cpanel:cgiemail and cpanel:cgiecho and classifies the weakness as CWE-134. The reference set includes the cPanel vendor advisory (TSR-2017-0001), an Openwall oss-security post dated 2017-01-28, and a SecurityFocus BID entry. The CVE was published on 2017-03-03.

Official resources