VulnerabilityPublished 16 Dec 2025

CVE-2023-53894: Dulldusk phpfm · Weak Authentication

Affects Dulldusk phpfmSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.3 Critical.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

9.3Critical

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 49% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High
Vulnerable system integrity: High
Vulnerable system availability: High
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all information within the Vulnerable System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Vulnerable system integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the vulnerable system. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability: High: There is a total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the Vulnerable System; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the Vulnerable System (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Dec 2025
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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Dulldusk phpfm	Affected =1.7.9	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Immediately restrict access to the phpfm interface by IP whitelisting or VPN-only access to reduce exposure.
Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious login attempts with hashes starting with '0e' or '00e'.
Monitor server logs for unusual authentication patterns or file uploads indicative of exploitation attempts.
Disable or remove phpfm if not essential, or replace it with a more secure file management solution.
Apply principle of least privilege to the web server user accounts to limit damage from potential compromise.
Once available, promptly apply official patches or updates from Dulldusk addressing this vulnerability.
Conduct internal audits to identify all instances of phpfm 1.7.9 in the environment.
Employ multi-factor authentication (MFA) or additional authentication layers around phpfm access points.
Regularly back up web server data and verify restoration procedures to mitigate ransomware or destructive attacks.
Educate IT staff about this vulnerability and ensure incident response plans include scenarios involving phpfm compromise.

Description

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 files to the server.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-53894 is significant. Unauthorized access to phpfm can lead to full compromise of web servers hosting the vulnerable software, enabling attackers to upload and execute malicious PHP scripts. This can result in data breaches, defacement, ransomware deployment, or pivoting to internal networks. Organizations relying on phpfm for file management in web environments, especially those with sensitive or regulated data, face confidentiality, integrity, and availability risks. The ease of exploitation and lack of required privileges increase the likelihood of attacks. Critical infrastructure providers, government agencies, and enterprises with web-facing applications using phpfm are particularly vulnerable. The vulnerability could also be leveraged in supply chain attacks if phpfm is embedded in third-party services. The absence of patches increases exposure time, amplifying risk. Additionally, compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations may be jeopardized if breaches occur due to this flaw.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…