VulnerabilityPublished 17 Jun 2018Updated 9 Jun 2025

CVE-2018-12071: A Session Fixation issue exists in CodeIgniter before 3.1.9 because session.use_strict_mode

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited : upgrade to 3.1.9 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:54 UTC

Severity

High

Rated High by the CNA (mitre) · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

EPSS: 1.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 74% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.1.9

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 17 Jun 2018
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade bcit-ci/CodeIgniter to 3.1.9.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubbcit-ci/CodeIgniter`pkg:github/bcit-ci/CodeIgniter`Other threats	Affected <3.1.9	Fixed in 3.1.9

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should prioritize upgrading CodeIgniter to version 3.1.9 or later, where the session fixation issue has been addressed. If immediate upgrading is not feasible, organizations should implement strict session management best practices: enforce session ID regeneration upon user authentication, enable and correctly configure session.use_strict_mode in PHP to reject uninitialized session IDs, and ensure secure cookie attributes (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite) are set to reduce session hijacking risks. Additionally, web application firewalls (WAFs) can be configured to detect and block suspicious session fixation attempts. Regular security audits and penetration testing focused on session management can help identify residual risks. Finally, educating developers about secure session handling and integrating security checks into the development lifecycle will prevent recurrence.

Description

A Session Fixation issue exists in CodeIgniter before 3.1.9 because session.use_strict_mode in the Session Library was mishandled.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant, especially for those relying on web applications built with vulnerable versions of CodeIgniter. Exploitation could allow attackers to hijack user sessions, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information, manipulation of user data, or execution of actions on behalf of legitimate users. This can result in data breaches, loss of customer trust, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR violations), and financial losses. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and government are particularly at risk due to the sensitive nature of the data handled. Since session fixation can be exploited remotely without requiring user interaction beyond the victim logging in, the attack surface is broad. The absence of known exploits in the wild suggests limited active exploitation, but the vulnerability remains a latent risk if unpatched systems persist.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 9 Jul 2025, 11:41 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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