CVE-2023-53894
Dulldusk Phpfilemanager 1.7.9
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-53894 is a critical-severity Weak Authentication (CWE-1390) vulnerability in Dulldusk Phpfilemanager. Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked at the 49th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-12 (Identity Proofing) and IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2023-53894 is an authentication bypass vulnerability in phpfm version 1.7.9, a PHP-based file manager. The flaw stems from loose type comparison in password hash validation, allowing attackers to craft specific password hashes beginning with "0e" or "00e" that evaluate as equal to the expected hash (such as MD5 hashes starting with those prefixes). This issue is classified under CWE-1390 and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating critical severity due to its network accessibility and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Remote attackers require no privileges or user interaction to exploit this vulnerability over the network. By submitting a specially crafted password hash during login, they can bypass authentication entirely and gain unauthorized access to the phpfm interface. Once logged in, attackers can upload malicious PHP files to the server, potentially leading to remote code execution, full server compromise, or further lateral movement depending on server permissions and configuration.
Advisories and references, including those from Vulncheck (https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/phpfm-authentication-bypass-via-type-juggling-vulnerability), Exploit-DB (https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/51594), and the phpfm project site (https://www.dulldusk.com/phpfm/), document the vulnerability and provide exploit details, but no specific patches or mitigation steps are detailed in the CVE description. Security practitioners should review these sources for updates and consider disabling or upgrading phpfm installations.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-60196
Vulnerability Data
phpfm 1.7.9 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability that allows attackers to log in by exploiting loose type comparison in password hash validation. Attackers can craft specific password hashes beginning with 0e or 00e to bypass authentication and upload malicious PHP…
more
files to the server.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires identity proofing at appropriate assurance levels before granting accounts, directly addressing insufficient proof of identity.
Requires unique identification and authentication of users, directly stopping weak mechanisms from being used.
Requires device identification and authentication before establishing connections.
Extends strong identification and authentication requirements to non-organizational users.
Mandates proper authenticator issuance, management, and strength to ensure claimed identities are verified.
Enforces access decisions based on authenticated identities, making weak authentication less exploitable.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
A.5.17 directly mandates non-guessable unique secrets, identity verification before issuance, secure transmission, immediate default changes, strong password enforcement, no reuse, and protected storage/transmission, which stops exploitation of most insufficient-proof cases in CWE-1390; the bounded remainder is non-password mechanisms (e.g. biometrics, certificates) or flawed protocol-level proof not covered by these password-centric rules.
A.8.5 directly mandates choosing sufficiently strong authentication techniques (including MFA, biometrics with fallback, brute-force protection, secure log-on procedures) that prove claimed identity, which stops exploitation of insufficient proof for most but not all cases in CWE-1390 (e.g. residual protocol-level or implementation-specific flaws remain possible).
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.