Decoded: Small Business Cybersecurity News & Insights

Critical RCE Vulnerability in Craft CMS

Published Date: December 19, 2024

Package Affected Versions Patched Versions Severity
📦 craftcms/cms (Composer) >= 5.0.0-RC1, < 5.5.2 5.5.2 Critical

Description

Summary of the Vulnerability


Craft CMS has a critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability. The issue arises when the PHP configuration setting register_argc_argv is enabled. Attackers could exploit this to execute arbitrary code, putting websites and servers at significant risk.

 

Impact


If register_argc_argv is enabled in your PHP configuration (php.ini), your Craft CMS installation is vulnerable. This setting allows PHP to expose script arguments via $argv and $argc, which attackers can manipulate in certain scenarios.

 

How to Check if You’re Affected



  1. Locate your php.ini file. This is typically found in /etc/php/{version}/cli/php.ini on Linux or via your web server configuration.

  2. Look for the line:


register_argc_argv = On


If it is set to On, your system is at risk.

Patches & Workarounds

Solution


Patches



  • Upgrade Immediately:

    • For Craft CMS 4.x, update to 4.13.2.

    • For Craft CMS 5.x, update to 5.5.2.




To update, use Composer:


composer update craftcms/cms



Workarounds


If upgrading isn’t an option right now:

  • Disable register_argc_argv in php.ini:




register_argc_argv = Off



  • Restart your web server to apply the change:


For Apache:


sudo systemctl restart apache2


For Nginx:


sudo systemctl restart nginx

References

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-56145
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