CVE-2004-1678: Directory traversal vulnerability in pdesk.cgi in PerlDesk allows remote attackers to read portions of arbitra

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MEDIUM 5.0MITIGATE

CVE-2004-1678 is a medium-severity flaw (CVSS 5.0) affecting perldesk. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

Directory traversal vulnerability in pdesk.cgi in PerlDesk allows remote attackers to read portions of arbitrary files and possibly execute arbitrary Perl modules via ".." sequences terminated by a %00 (null) character in the lang parameter, which can leak portions of the requested files if a compilation error message occurs.

Why this priority

EPSS top 6%: very likely to be exploited
Public exploit reference

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	5.0 (Medium)
EPSS exploit chance	7.2% (top 6%)
CISA exploited list	No
Published	2004-09-13
Last modified	2026-06-16

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: logicnow

Last updated 2026-06-16 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2004-09-13 04:00 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-16 22:08 UTCUpdated Record last modified

logicnow perldesk MITIGATE

Affected: all versions

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: no unaffected older release

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy perldesk || rpm -q perldesk || perldesk --version

No fixed or unaffected release known

Apply the vendor mitigation from the advisory, disable the affected feature, or restrict network access.

Public exploits and detection

Public code exists for this CVE. Treat unpatched systems as at risk, and only run PoCs in a lab.

Exploit-DB: PerlDesk Language Variable - Server-Side Script Execution

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2004-1678?

perldesk: mitigate or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2004-1678 being exploited?

CVE-2004-1678 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2004-1678 affect?

CVE-2004-1678 affects perldesk. Severity is medium (CVSS 5.0). Directory traversal vulnerability in pdesk.cgi in PerlDesk allows remote attackers to read portions of arbitrary files and possibly execute arbitrary Perl modules via ".." sequences terminated by a %00 (null) character in the lang parameter

How urgent is CVE-2004-1678?

Priority 46/100. EPSS top 6%: very likely to be exploited; Public exploit reference

Software pages

Perl vulnerabilities

Related CVEs

CVE-2005-0343 HIGH 7.5 DOWNGRADE SQL injection vulnerability in PerlDesk 1.x allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands via the v
CVE-2004-1677 MEDIUM 5.0 UPGRADE pdesk.cgi in PerlDesk allows remote attackers to gain sensitive information via an invalid lang parameter, whi

References

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