---
id: "CVE-2026-48172"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-48172"]
title: "LiteSpeed User-End cPanel Plugin before 2.4.5 allows privilege escalation (possibly to root), as exploited in the\u2026"
severity: "critical"
cvss: 10.0
epss: null
exploited: true
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: [{"name": "LiteSpeed cPanel Plugin", "fixed": [], "affected": "", "ecosystem": "vendor"}, {"name": "litespeedtech litespeed cpanel plugin", "fixed": ["2.4.7"], "affected": "< 2.4.7", "ecosystem": "vendor"}, {"name": "litespeedtech litespeed whm plugin", "fixed": ["5.3.1.0"], "affected": "< 5.3.1.0", "ecosystem": "vendor"}]
ecosystems: ["vendor"]
tags: ["cpanel", "exploited", "infrastructure", "litespeed", "self-hosted", "shared-hosting"]
not_affected_if: ["no-litespeed-cpanel-plugin"]
published_at: "2026-05-21T02:16:33+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-23T23:44:51+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "kev", "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2026-48172", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00"}, {"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-48172", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T23:44:51+00:00"}]
---

# LiteSpeed User-End cPanel Plugin before 2.4.5 allows privilege escalation (possibly to root), as exploited in the…

The LiteSpeed cPanel Plugin has a privilege escalation flaw in its user-facing cPanel component. Any cPanel user account can abuse it to run arbitrary scripts as root.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Affected

- vendor:LiteSpeed cPanel Plugin affected ? fixed ?
- vendor:litespeedtech litespeed cpanel plugin affected < 2.4.7 fixed 2.4.7
- vendor:litespeedtech litespeed whm plugin affected < 5.3.1.0 fixed 5.3.1.0

## Fix

Apply the mitigations from the vendor (LiteSpeed) as CISA directs; the sources do not name a fixed version. If no mitigation is available, discontinue use of the plugin.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00 kev https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2026-48172
- 2026-10-23T23:44:51+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-48172

## From the sources

LiteSpeed User-End cPanel Plugin before 2.4.5 allows privilege escalation (possibly to root), as exploited in the wild in May 2026. Detection is best done via a command line of grep -rE "cpanel_jsonapi_func=redisAble" /var/cpanel/logs /usr/local/cpanel/logs/ 2>/dev/null in Bash. If you get no output, you have not been hit with exploitation of the vulnerability. If there is output, we recommend you examine the IP addresses in the list, determine if they are valid IP addresses, and if not, block them. To determine damage done, examine the system logs for use by the detected IP addresses. The issue is related to mishandling of Redis enable/disable features. The recommended minimum version is 2.4.7.

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