Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Employee Records System version 1.0, a free PHP application from SourceCodester, lets anyone on the internet upload files to the server and run them. An attacker does not need a password. Exploitation has been observed in the wild as of February 2025, so any internet-facing install should be treated as compromised until proven otherwise.
Executive priority
Treat as a same-day priority for any team running this application. It is unauthenticated remote code execution with confirmed in-the-wild abuse and a public exploit, meaning a single exposed server can be fully compromised within minutes of discovery by an attacker.
Technical view
CWE-434 unrestricted file upload in uploadID.php accepts attacker-controlled files without server-side validation, allowing a remote unauthenticated attacker to drop and execute a web shell. CVSS 4.0 base score is 9.3 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H), reflecting trivial network-reachable exploitation with full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact on the host.
Likely exposure
Likely confined to small organizations or developers running the free SourceCodester "Employee Records System" PHP application, often deployed on shared LAMP hosting or internal HR test boxes. Exposure is highest where the app is reachable from the public internet without an authentication proxy or WAF.
Exploitation context
Shadowserver observed in-the-wild exploitation on 2025-02-06 UTC and a public proof-of-concept is published as Exploit-DB 49596. The CVE is not on CISA KEV, but unauthenticated RCE plus a working public exploit makes opportunistic mass scanning and web-shell drops highly likely against any exposed instance.
Researcher notes
CVE record was published 2025-11-10 and updated 2026-04-07 despite the 2021 identifier, indicating retroactive cataloguing of an older SourceCodester project. Affected entry lists defaultStatus "unaffected" with version 1.0 explicitly affected and no CPEs, so asset-management tools relying on CPE matching will miss this; detect by file path and HTTP endpoint instead.
Mitigation direction
- Take any internet-exposed Employee Records System v1.0 instance offline immediately until validated.
- Block external access to /uploadID.php at the WAF or reverse proxy.
- Disable PHP execution inside any user-writable upload directory.
- Check vendor (SourceCodester) page for an updated release; no fixed version is named in the sources.
- Plan migration to a maintained HR records platform given the project's hobbyist origins.
- Restrict the application to authenticated, internal users via VPN or SSO gateway.
Validation and detection
- Inventory web servers for the SourceCodester Employee Records System codebase and uploadID.php.
- Search web and access logs for POST requests to uploadID.php from unknown sources.
- Hunt the upload directory for unexpected .php, .phtml, or .phar files and recently modified scripts.
- Review process and outbound network telemetry on the host for web-shell or reverse-shell activity.
- Confirm no attacker persistence (cron jobs, new users, modified .htaccess) before returning to service.
- Re-test the endpoint from an external perspective after mitigation to confirm uploads are blocked.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-434: File access and web shell behavior lookup
File traversal and upload weaknesses can lead teams to review file, web shell, execution, and collection telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-4462 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.3 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
9.3CriticalVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.sourcecodester.com/php/11393/employee-records-system.htmlCVE reference · product
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/49596CVE reference · exploit
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/employees-records-system-arbitrary-file-upload-rceCVE reference · third-party-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.