CVE-2019-1010178
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Fred MODX Revolution allows attackers to bypass access controls and upload PHP files or modify database data, leading to remote code execution. It affects all versions before 1.0.0-beta5. Attackers can exploit this to take full control of affected systems.
💻 Affected Systems
- Fred MODX Revolution
📦 What is this software?
Fred by Modx
Fred by Modx
Fred by Modx
Fred by Modx
Fred by Modx
Fred by Modx
Fred by Modx
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full administrative control, data theft, and persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Website defacement, data manipulation, and installation of web shells for further exploitation.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper file upload restrictions and database access controls are in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation is straightforward via direct file upload or database manipulation through the vulnerable connector.php endpoint.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.0.0-beta5 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/modxcms/fred/commit/139cefac83b2ead90da23187d92739dec79d3ccd
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update Fred MODX Revolution to version 1.0.0-beta5 or later. 2. Apply the security patches from the GitHub commits. 3. Verify the fix by checking that the vulnerable connector.php file has proper access controls.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict access to elfinder connector
allBlock direct access to the vulnerable connector.php file via web server configuration
# For Apache: add to .htaccess
<Files "connector.php">
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
</Files>
# For Nginx: add to server block
location ~ /assets/components/fred/web/elfinder/connector\.php$ {
deny all;
return 403;
}
Remove vulnerable component
linuxTemporarily remove or disable the Fred component until patching is possible
# Remove the vulnerable directory
rm -rf /path/to/modx/assets/components/fred/
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file upload validation and filtering for PHP files
- Apply network segmentation and restrict database access to trusted sources only
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if Fred MODX Revolution version is below 1.0.0-beta5 and if the file /assets/components/fred/web/elfinder/connector.php exists and is accessible.Check Version:
Check MODX manager dashboard or examine MODX configuration files for version information.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify that the connector.php file now includes proper authentication checks and that Fred version is 1.0.0-beta5 or higher.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual file uploads to /assets/components/fred/web/elfinder/
- Access attempts to connector.php from unexpected IPs
- Database modification queries from web interface
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to connector.php with file uploads
- Unusual outbound connections from web server after exploitation
SIEM Query:
source="web_access.log" AND (uri="/assets/components/fred/web/elfinder/connector.php" OR uri CONTAINS "connector.php")