CVE-2026-55579
Public exploit code is available. Proof-of-concept or working exploit code for CVE-2026-55579 is indexed in GitHub PoC. Expect opportunistic scanning and exploitation attempts — prioritize remediation even though it is not (yet) in the CISA KEV catalog.
Summary
Pheditor ships with a hardcoded default password admin (SHA-512 hash stored at pheditor.php:11). There is no mechanism to force a password change on first login. Any deployment using the default credentials grants an attacker full access to the file editor, file upload, and terminal features, enabling arbitrary file read/write and remote code execution.
Details
Tested repository: https://github.com/pheditor/pheditor
Tested commit: e538f05b6faec99e5b23726bc9c17d6b57774297 (current HEAD on main)
Affected version: All versions of Pheditor
The password is hardcoded at pheditor.php:11:
define('PASSWORD', 'c7ad44cbad762a5da0a452f9e854fdc1e0e7a52a38015f23f3eab1d80b931dd472634dfac71cd34ebc35d16ab7fb8a90c81f975113d6c7538dc69dd8de9077ec');
This is the SHA-512 hash of the string admin:
echo -n 'admin' | sha512sum
c7ad44cbad762a5da0a452f9e854fdc1e0e7a52a38015f23f3eab1d80b931dd472634dfac71cd34ebc35d16ab7fb8a90c81f975113d6c7538dc69dd8de9077ec
The application displays a warning banner at pheditor.php:1956-1958 when the default password is in use, but this is only visual — there is no forced password change, no expiry, no lockout, and no setup wizard. Many deployments run with the default indefinitely.
The password hash is stored as unsalted SHA-512 in the source code. The password change feature (lines 363-391) writes the new hash directly into the PHP source file, meaning anyone with read access to the source can extract it.
Combined impact: With the default password, an unauthenticated attacker can authenticate and exploit the terminal RCE and file upload vulnerabilities for immediate server compromise.
PoC
Environment: Any system running Pheditor with default configuration.
Setup:
git clone https://github.com/pheditor/pheditor /tmp/pheditor-test
cd /tmp/pheditor-test
php -S localhost:8080 pheditor.php &
Positive trigger — authenticate with default password:
curl -s -c /tmp/cookies.txt -X POST http://localhost:8080/pheditor.php \
-d "pheditor_password=a
⚡ Watch CVE-2026-55579
Get an email if CVE-2026-55579 is added to CISA KEV, gains public exploit code, or a new advisory cites it — max one per day, one-click unsubscribe.
Exploitation outlook
- Low exploitation risk0.60% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 45% of all EPSS-scored CVEs.
Exploit availability
Public exploit or proof-of-concept code for CVE-2026-55579 is indexed in these free datasets. Available exploit code raises real-world risk independent of the CVSS score.
- GitHub PoCPublic proof-of-concept repositories on GitHub reference this CVE.look it up ↗
Advisory coverage (2)
External references
Embed the live status
— this badge updates automatically when the KEV or exploit status changes. How to embed it →
[](https://www.csirts.com/cve/CVE-2026-55579)