Vbulletin
CVE-2017-17671
CRITICAL
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling Path canonicalization, traversal prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Discovery, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. EPSS exploitation probability: 4.66%. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could access files and directories outside the intended path by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
vBulletin through 5.3.x on Windows allows remote PHP code execution because a require_once call is reachable with an unauthenticated request that can include directory traversal sequences to specify. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
RemediationAI
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Validate and canonicalize file paths. Use chroot or sandboxing. Reject input containing path separators or '../' sequences.
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22), which allows attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path. vBulletin through 5.3.x on Windows allows remote PHP code execution because a require_once call is reachable with an unauthenticated request that can include directory traversal sequences to specify an arbitrary pathname, and because ../ traversal is blocked but ..\ traversal is not blocked. For example, an attacker can make an invalid HTTP request containing PHP code, and then make an index.php?routestring= request with enough instances of ".." to reach an Apache HTTP Server log file. Affected products include: Vbulletin. Version information: through 5.3..
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionCVE.org
vBulletin through 5.3.x on Windows allows remote PHP code execution because a require_once call is reachable with an unauthenticated request that can include directory traversal sequences to specify an arbitrary pathname, and because ../ traversal is blocked but ..\ traversal is not blocked. For example, an attacker can make an invalid HTTP request containing PHP code, and then make an index.php?routestring= request with enough instances of ".." to reach an Apache HTTP Server log file.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Path traversal exploits occur when applications use user-controlled input to construct file system paths without proper validation.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org
vBulletin versions 5.0.0 through 5.7.5 and 6.0.0 through 6.0.3 are vulnerable to remote code execution through crafted t
SQL injection vulnerability in forumrunner/includes/moderation.php in vBulletin before 4.2.2 Patch Level 5 and 4.2.3 bef
vBulletin 5.0.0 through 5.7.5 and 6.0.0 through 6.0.3 running on PHP 8.1 or later allow unauthenticated access to protec
The vB_Api_Hook::decodeArguments method in vBulletin 5 Connect 5.1.2 through 5.1.9 allows remote attackers to conduct PH
The install/upgrade.php scripts in vBulletin 4.1 and 5 allow remote attackers to create administrative accounts via the
SQL injection vulnerability in index.php/ajax/api/reputation/vote in vBulletin 5.0.0 Beta 11, 5.0.0 Beta 28, and earlier
vBulletin 5.5.4 through 5.6.2 allows remote command execution via crafted subWidgets data in an ajax/render/widget_tabbe
vBulletin before 5.5.6pl1, 5.6.0 before 5.6.0pl1, and 5.6.1 before 5.6.1pl1 has incorrect access control. Rated critical
vBulletin 5.x through 5.5.4 allows remote command execution via the widgetConfig[code] parameter in an ajax/render/widge
In vBulletin through 5.3.x, there is an unauthenticated deserialization vulnerability that leads to arbitrary file delet
The media-file upload feature in vBulletin before 3.8.7 Patch Level 6, 3.8.8 before Patch Level 2, 3.8.9 before Patch Le
vBulletin before 5.6.9 PL1 allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary code via a crafted HTTP reques
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB