CVE-2018-12613
HIGHCVE-2018-12613 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Improper Authentication vulnerability in phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin. 13 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2018-12613 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
phpMyAdmin Improper Authentication
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2018-12613 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE sits: patch-first territory.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 0 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
phpmyadmin/phpmyadminReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
An issue was discovered in phpMyAdmin 4.8.x before 4.8.2, in which an attacker can include (view and potentially execute) files on the server. The vulnerability comes from a portion of code where pages are redirected and loaded within phpMyAdmin, and an improper test for whitelisted pages. An attacker must be authenticated, except in the "$cfg['AllowArbitraryServer'] = true" case (where an attacker can specify any host he/she is already in control of, and execute arbitrary code on phpMyAdmin) and the "$cfg['ServerDefault'] = 0" case (which bypasses the login requirement and runs the vulnerable code without any authentication).
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin | ≥ 4.8&&< 4.8.2 | 4.8.2 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
phpMyAdmin 4.8.1 - (Authenticated) Local File Inclusion (2)
by VulnSpy · Jun 22, 2018
phpMyAdmin 4.8.1 - (Authenticated) Local File Inclusion (1)
by ChaMd5 · Jun 21, 2018
phpMyAdmin - (Authenticated) Remote Code Execution (Metasploit)
by Metasploit · Jul 13, 2018
phpMyAdmin 4.8.1 - Remote Code Execution (RCE)
by samguy · Oct 25, 2021
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin to 4.8.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2018-12613 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2018-12613 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2018-12613. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2018-12613 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2018-12613 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.