CVE-2019-9858

Exp

Remote code execution was discovered in Horde Groupware Webmail 5.2.22 and 5.2.17. Horde/Form/Type.php contains a vulnerable class that handles image upload in forms. When the Horde_Form_Type_image method onSubmit() is called on uploads, it invokes the functions getImage() and _getUpload(), which uses unsanitized user input as a path to save the image. The unsanitized POST parameter object[photo][img][file] is saved in the $upload[img][file] PHP variable, allowing an attacker to manipulate the $tmp_file passed to move_uploaded_file() to save the uploaded file. By setting the parameter to (for example) ../usr/share/horde/static/bd.php, one can write a PHP backdoor inside the web root. The static/ destination folder is a good candidate to drop the backdoor because it is always writable in Horde installations. (The unsanitized POST parameter went probably unnoticed because it's never submitted by the forms, which default to securely using a random path.)

Published: 2019-05-29 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2019-9858 is rated High Exploit Risk (79.1/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 19.16%, 97th percentile). Core evidence: 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2019-9858

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-9858

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 79.84% 19.16% -60.67%
2 2026-04-29 80.22% 79.84% -0.38%
3 2026-03-14 80.22%

Full EPSS history (27 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-9858

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
8.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-9858

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-9858

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-9858 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (php-horde-form), 3 status rows across 3 suites (bookworm, bullseye, sid): resolved 3. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-9858
ubuntu medium CVE-2019-9858 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (php-horde-form), 17 status rows across 17 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 13, needs-triage 2, not-affected 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-9858

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-9858

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
horde groupware 5.2.17 cpe:2.3:a:horde:groupware:5.2.17:*:*:*:webmail:*:*:*
horde groupware 5.2.22 cpe:2.3:a:horde:groupware:5.2.22:*:*:*:webmail:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-9858

cvelogic Threat Intelligence