CVE-2018-10362
Publication date 25 April 2018
Last updated 25 August 2025
Ubuntu priority
Description
An issue was discovered in phpLiteAdmin 1.9.5 through 1.9.7.1. Due to loose comparison with '==' instead of '===' in classes/Authorization.php for the user-provided login password, it is possible to login with a simpler password if the password has the form of a power in scientific notation (like '2e2' for '200' or '0e1234' for '0'). This is possible because, in the loose comparison case, PHP interprets the string as a number in scientific notation, and thus converts it to a number. After that, the comparison with '==' casts the user input (e.g., the string '200' or '0') to a number, too. Hence the attacker can login with just a '0' or a simple number he has to brute force. Strong comparison with '===' prevents the cast into numbers.
Status
| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
|---|---|---|
| phpliteadmin | 18.04 LTS bionic |
Fixed 1.9.7.1-1ubuntu0.1
|
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
Severity score breakdown
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Base score |
9.8 · Critical
|
| Attack vector | Network |
| Attack complexity | Low |
| Privileges required | None |
| User interaction | None |
| Scope | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High |
| Integrity impact | High |
| Availability impact | High |
| Vector | CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |