CVE-2019-9194 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) OS Command Injection vulnerability in studio-42/elfinder. 7 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for studio-42/elfinder — see the affected versions and patch details below.
elFinder command injection vulnerability in the PHP connector
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2019-9194 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
studio-42/elfinderReal-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
elFinder before 2.1.48 has a command injection vulnerability in the PHP connector.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | studio-42/elfinder | all versions | 2.1.48composer require studio-42/elfinder:^2.1.48 |
Affected Products
elfinderstd42Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
elFinder 2.1.47 - 'PHP connector' Command Injection
by q3rv0 · Mar 4, 2019
elFinder PHP Connector < 2.1.48 - 'exiftran' Command Injection (Metasploit)
by Metasploit · Mar 13, 2019
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for studio-42/elfinder, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update studio-42/elfinder to 2.1.48 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-9194 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
How to detect CVE-2019-9194
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2019-9194 -u https://target- Template
- elFinder <= 2.1.47 - Command Injection
- Severity
- critical
- Impact
- Attackers can execute arbitrary system commands via command injection during JPEG image processing operations, leading to complete server compromise.
- Remediation
- Upgrade to elFinder version 2.1.48 or later.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (r00tuser111), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-9194 in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.