CVE-2019-15642

What is this vulnerability?

CVE-2019-15642 is categorized as a high Code Injection flaw with a CVSS base score of 8.8. Based on our vulnerability intelligence, this issue occurs when the application fails to securely handle untrusted data boundaries.

rpc.cgi in Webmin through 1.920 allows authenticated Remote Code Execution via a crafted object name because unserialise_variable makes an eval call. NOTE: the Webmin_Servers_Index documentation states "RPC can be used to run any command or modify any file on a server, which is why access to it must not be granted to un-trusted Webmin users."

This architectural defect enables adversaries to bypass intended security controls, directly manipulating the application's execution state or data layer. Immediate strategic intervention is required.

Risk Assessment

Impact on Systems

✅ Data Exfiltration: Attackers can extract sensitive data from backend databases, configuration files, or internal services.

✅ Authentication Bypass: Exploiting this flaw may allow unauthorized access to protected resources and administrative interfaces.

✅ Lateral Movement: Once initial access is gained, attackers can pivot to internal systems and escalate privileges.

How to Fix and Mitigate CVE-2019-15642

1. Apply Vendor Patches: Upgrade affected components to their latest, non-vulnerable versions immediately.
2. Implement Input Validation: Ensure all user-supplied data is validated, sanitized, and type-checked before processing.
3. Deploy Runtime Protection: Use Precogs continuous monitoring to detect exploitation attempts in real time.
4. Audit Dependencies: Review and update all third-party libraries and transitive dependencies.

Defending with Precogs AI

Webmin contains an OS command injection vulnerability in the RPC handling logic (rpc.cgi). Authenticated attackers exploit a logic flaw to bypass path validation and execute arbitrary commands as root. Precogs Application Security Module tracks untrusted input to system shell execution sinks.

Use Precogs to continuously scan your codebase, binaries, APIs, and infrastructure for this vulnerability class and related attack patterns. Our AI-powered detection engine combines static analysis with threat intelligence to identify exploitable weaknesses before attackers do.

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Vulnerability Code Signature

Attack Data Flow

Vulnerable Code Pattern

# ❌ VULNERABLE: Dynamic code evaluation
def process_data(user_input):
    # Taint sink: arbitrary code execution
    result = eval(user_input)
    return result

Secure Code Pattern

# ✅ SECURE: Safe parsing
import ast
def process_data(user_input):
    # Sanitized parsing: only evaluates literal structures
    result = ast.literal_eval(user_input)
    return result

How Precogs Detects This

Precogs AI Analysis Engine identifies unsafe dynamic code evaluation paths by tracking untrusted data into sinks like eval() and exec().\n