The most relevant exploit typically associated with older 7.4.x versions involves local privilege escalation , while more recent critical flaws like CVE-2024-4577
For more technical details on how the exploit works, you can view the proof-of-concept on Exploit-DB .
Back up your htdocs directory and MariaDB/MySQL databases using mysqldump . Uninstall XAMPP 7.4.29. xampp for windows 7429 exploit link
☐ Disable PHP functions: exec() , shell_exec() , system() , passthru() , popen() in php.ini unless required
1. The Control Panel Privilege Escalation Flaw (CVE-2020-11107) The most relevant exploit typically associated with older 7
Versions prior to XAMPP 7.2.29, 7.3.x prior to 7.3.16, and 7.4.x prior to 7.4.4 on Windows systems are affected by a privilege escalation vulnerability. An unprivileged user can modify the xampp-control.ini configuration file (due to improper permissions) to inject arbitrary commands into the control panel's execution flow. When an administrator subsequently runs the XAMPP Control Panel, the injected commands execute with privileged access.
Attackers have been observed uploading webshells to the xampp\htdocs\ directory and executing malicious payloads from remote servers, with the earliest detected attack activity occurring as early as June 8, 2024. ☐ Disable PHP functions: exec() , shell_exec() ,
It enables privilege escalation on multi-user systems where XAMPP is installed, allowing any authenticated user to gain administrative privileges.
: If you need the original binaries for testing, they are archived at SourceForge .