CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2016-6614 — An issue was discovered in phpMyAdmin involving the %u username replacement functionality of the SaveDir and UploadDir features

Medium CVSS 6.8

An issue was discovered in phpMyAdmin involving the %u username replacement functionality of the SaveDir and UploadDir features. When the username substitution is configured, a specially-crafted user name can be used to circumvent restrictions to traverse the file system. All 4.6.x versions (prior to 4.6.4), 4.4.x versions (prior to 4.4.15.8), and 4.0.x versions (prior to 4.0.10.17) are affected.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.8 (3.0)
Published
2016-12-11
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-22

Affected products

  • phpmyadmin / phpmyadmin / 4.6.0
  • phpmyadmin / phpmyadmin / 4.6.1
  • phpmyadmin / phpmyadmin / 4.6.2
  • phpmyadmin / phpmyadmin / 4.6.3
  • phpmyadmin / phpmyadmin / 4.0.0
  • phpmyadmin / phpmyadmin / 4.0.1

Showing 6 representative product identities from 60 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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