# CVE-2008-6843: Path traversal in n/a

> Remote attackers can read arbitrary files via directory traversal in Fantastico for cPanel, exposing sensitive system data.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Jul 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hrm9-4xwc-pjv8

## What is CVE-2008-6843?

CVE-2008-6843 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cpanel Cpanel, published on 2 Jul 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Directory traversal vulnerability in index.php in Fantastico, as used with cPanel 11.x, allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a .. (dot dot) in the sup3r parameter.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-6843?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cpanel Cpanel, Netenberg Fantastico De Luxe.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-6843?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-6843 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-6843 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-6843 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Fantastico - 'index.php' Local File Inclusion (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Cpanel Cpanel

- [CVE-2026-41940](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41940/): WebPros cPanel & WHM and WP2 (WordPress Squared) Missing Authentication for Critical Function (critical 9.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2003-1425](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-1425/): guestbook.cgi in cPanel 5.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via the template parameter. (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1769](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1769/): Code injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1770/): Command injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2020-26098](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-26098/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-6843 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-6843 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cpanel Cpanel, published on 2 Jul 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-6843 exists.

Affected product: Cpanel Cpanel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-6843/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-6843/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-6843
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-6843
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-6843

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-6843/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.