CVE-2014-9001 in Incredible PBX 11
Summary
by MITRE
reminders/index.php in Incredible PBX 11 2.0.6.5.0 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in the (1) APPTMIN, (2) APPTHR, (3) APPTDA, (4) APPTMO, (5) APPTYR, or (6) APPTPHONE parameters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/08/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-9001 affects Incredible PBX 11 2.0.6.5.0 and represents a critical command injection flaw in the reminders/index.php component. This issue enables remote authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary system commands through the manipulation of shell metacharacters within specific parameters. The vulnerability resides in the application's handling of user-supplied input without proper sanitization or validation, creating a direct path for malicious command execution on the underlying system.
The technical flaw manifests through the improper handling of six distinct parameters within the reminders/index.php script: APPTMIN, APPTHR, APPTDA, APPTMO, APPTYR, and APPTPHONE. These parameters are designed to capture appointment-related information from authenticated users but fail to adequately sanitize input before processing. When attackers supply shell metacharacters such as semicolons, ampersands, or backticks within any of these parameter values, the application passes this unfiltered input directly to system commands, resulting in arbitrary code execution. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-77 and CWE-94 within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework, representing improper neutralization of special elements used in command execution and improper validation of command line arguments.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted. Remote authenticated attackers can leverage this flaw to execute commands with the privileges of the web application user, typically running as the apache or www-data user on Linux systems. This privilege escalation capability allows attackers to potentially gain full system control, extract sensitive data, install backdoors, or launch further attacks against network infrastructure. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of the PBX system, as attackers can access or modify appointment data, user information, and potentially gain access to underlying network resources. This command injection vulnerability also creates opportunities for attackers to establish persistent access through the installation of malicious scripts or the modification of system files.
Organizations utilizing Incredible PBX 11 2.0.6.5.0 should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided security patches or upgrading to patched versions of the software. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit the scope of potential exploitation. Input validation and sanitization measures should be implemented at multiple layers, including application-level filtering of special characters and the adoption of parameterized command execution where possible. The vulnerability also aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter and T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation, making it a significant concern for organizations following the MITRE ATT&CK framework for threat analysis and defense planning. Regular security assessments and monitoring of system logs for suspicious command execution patterns should be implemented to detect potential exploitation attempts.