CVE-2019-19609

HIGH EXPLOITED IN THE WILD

Strapi < 3.0.0-beta.17.8 - Remote Code Execution via Plugin Install/Uninstall

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

CVE-2019-19609 has been observed exploited in the wild (reported by VulnCheck KEV, InTheWild.io). EIP tracks 9 public exploits from researchers including David Utón, diego-tella, ebadfd.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit targets Strapi CMS versions up to 3.0.0-beta.17.7, leveraging an authenticated RCE vulnerability via plugin installation. It sends a malicious payload through the `/admin/plugins/install` endpoint, executing arbitrary commands and establishing a reverse shell.

Description

The Strapi framework before 3.0.0-beta.17.8 is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in the Install and Uninstall Plugin components of the Admin panel, because it does not sanitize the plugin name, and attackers can inject arbitrary shell commands to be executed by the execa function.

Exploits (9)

exploitdb WORKING POC
by David Utón · pythonwebappsmultiple
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50238

This exploit targets Strapi CMS versions up to 3.0.0-beta.17.7, leveraging an authenticated RCE vulnerability via plugin installation. It sends a malicious payload through the `/admin/plugins/install` endpoint, executing arbitrary commands and establishing a reverse shell.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi CMS <= 3.0.0-beta.17.7
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid JWT token · Network access to target · Netcat listener on attacker machine
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 9 stars
by diego-tella · remote-auth
https://github.com/diego-tella/CVE-2019-19609-EXPLOIT

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2019-19609, a remote code execution vulnerability in Strapi versions 3.0.0-beta.17.7 and earlier. The exploit leverages a vulnerable plugin installation endpoint to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted JSON payload, resulting in a reverse shell.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi <= 3.0.0-beta.17.7
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid JWT token for authentication · Network access to the target Strapi instance
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 7 stars
by ebadfd · remote-auth
https://github.com/ebadfd/CVE-2019-19609

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2019-19609, a remote code execution vulnerability in the Strapi Framework. The exploit leverages a command injection flaw in the plugin installation feature, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted JSON payload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi Framework (strapi-3.0.0-beta.17.7 and earlier)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid JWT token for authentication · Network connectivity to the target Strapi instance · Listener set up on the attacker's machine
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 2 stars
by glowbase · poc
https://github.com/glowbase/CVE-2019-19609

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2019-19609, targeting Strapi CMS 3.0.0-beta.17.4. The exploit chains password reset (CVE-2019-18818) with command injection to achieve unauthenticated RCE via plugin installation.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi CMS version 3.0.0-beta.17.4 or lower
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to Strapi admin interface · Netcat listener for reverse shell
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by RamPanic · remote
https://github.com/RamPanic/CVE-2019-19609-EXPLOIT

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2019-19609, targeting Strapi CMS versions 3.0.0-beta.17.4 and below. The exploit chains a password reset vulnerability with a remote code execution (RCE) payload to achieve unauthenticated RCE via a reverse shell.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi CMS version 3.0.0-beta.17.4 or lower
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target Strapi CMS instance · Target must be running a vulnerable version of Strapi CMS
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by n000xy · remote
https://github.com/n000xy/CVE-2019-19609-POC-Python

This repository contains a functional Python exploit for CVE-2019-19609, which targets Strapi CMS. The exploit resets the admin password, obtains a JWT token, and executes a reverse shell payload via the plugin installation endpoint.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi CMS (versions prior to 3.0.0-beta.17.7)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target Strapi instance · Python environment with required libraries (requests, jwt)
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by D3m0nicw0lf · remote
https://github.com/D3m0nicw0lf/CVE-2019-19609

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2019-19609, a remote code execution vulnerability in Strapi. The exploit leverages a malicious plugin installation via a crafted JSON payload to execute arbitrary commands on the target system.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi (versions prior to fix)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid JWT token for authentication · Network access to the Strapi admin interface
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by guglia001 · remote
https://github.com/guglia001/CVE-2019-19609

This repository contains a functional Python exploit for CVE-2019-19609, an authenticated remote code execution vulnerability in Strapi <= 3.0.0-beta.17.8. The exploit leverages command injection via the 'plugin' parameter in the '/admin/plugins/install' endpoint to execute a reverse shell payload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi <= 3.0.0-beta.17.8
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid authentication token · Network access to the target Strapi instance
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
vulncheck_xdb WORKING POC
remote
https://github.com/Hackhoven/Strapi-RCE

This repository contains a functional exploit script that chains CVE-2019-18818 (password reset vulnerability) and CVE-2019-19609 (RCE via plugin installation) to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution in Strapi CMS. The script automates the process of obtaining a JWT token and executing a reverse shell payload.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Strapi CMS versions 3.0.0-beta.17.4 and lower
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Target URL · Attacker's LHOST · Attacker's LPORT
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 25, 2026 Full analysis →

References (4)

Core 4
Core References
Exploit, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://bittherapy.net/post/strapi-framework-remote-code-execution/
Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://github.com/strapi/strapi/pull/4636

Scores

CVSS v3 7.2
EPSS 0.8113
EPSS Percentile 99.2%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

VulnCheck KEV 2023-03-21
InTheWild.io 2024-05-17
CWE
CWE-78
Status published
Products (2)
npm/strapi 0 - 3.0.0-beta.17.8npm
strapi/strapi 3.0.0 alpha10.1 (49 CPE variants)
Published Dec 05, 2019
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026