Phpbb
CVE-2019-16993
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V3 - Web Frontend Security Anti-CSRF tokens, SameSite cookies
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
In phpBB before 3.1.7-PL1, includes/acp/acp_bbcodes.php has improper verification of a CSRF token on the BBCode page in the Administration Control Panel. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability could allow attackers to trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Implement anti-CSRF tokens, validate Origin/Referer headers, use SameSite cookie attribute.
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in composer
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 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) (CWE-352), which allows attackers to trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions. In phpBB before 3.1.7-PL1, includes/acp/acp_bbcodes.php has improper verification of a CSRF token on the BBCode page in the Administration Control Panel. An actual CSRF attack is possible if an attacker also manages to retrieve the session id of a reauthenticated administrator prior to targeting them. Affected products include: Phpbb, Debian Debian Linux. Version information: before 3.1.7.
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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:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
In phpBB before 3.1.7-PL1, includes/acp/acp_bbcodes.php has improper verification of a CSRF token on the BBCode page in the Administration Control Panel. An actual CSRF attack is possible if an attacker also manages to retrieve the session id of a reauthenticated administrator prior to targeting them.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
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
Cross-Site Request Forgery exploits the automatic credential inclusion behavior of web browsers.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
Account hijacking in phpBB is possible due to improper authentication checks in the OAuth implementation, affecting defa
Passing an absolute path to a file_exists check in phpBB before 3.2.4 allows Remote Code Execution through Object Inject
phpBB version 3.2.7 allows the stealing of an Administration Control Panel session id by leveraging CSRF in the Remote A
Reflected cross-site scripting in phpBB's registration module allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute scrip
Host header injection in phpBB versions 3.0.0 through 3.3.15 enables password reset link poisoning when force_server_var
Account takeover in phpBB via OAuth state-verification flaw enables remote attackers to link a victim's forum account to
The fulltext search component in phpBB before 3.2.6 allows Denial of Service. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulne
Privilege escalation in phpBB allows an authenticated administrator with limited rights to grant themselves permissions
The message_options function in includes/ucp/ucp_pm_options.php in phpBB before 3.0.13 does not properly validate the fo
phpBB 3.2.8 allows a CSRF attack that can approve pending group memberships. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vuln
Open redirect vulnerability in phpBB before 3.0.14 and 3.1.x before 3.1.4 allows remote attackers to redirect users of G
A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in phpBB up to 3.3.10.php of the component Smiley P
Exploit-DB