CVE-2002-0206
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedindex.php in Francisco Burzi PHP-Nuke 5.3.1 and earlier, and possibly other versions before 5.5, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code by specifying a URL to the malicious code in the file parameter.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceindex.php in PHP-Nuke 5.3.1 and earlier contains a file inclusion vulnerability via the 'file' parameter that allows remote attackers to specify a URL pointing to malicious PHP code, which the application then includes and executes server-side.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 1.0= 2.5= 3.0= 4.0= 4.3= 4.4= 4.4.1a= 5.0= 5.0.1= 5.1= 5.2= 5.2aCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm PHP-Nuke installation and versionLocate index.php in your web root and identify the PHP-Nuke version. Check files like includes/version.php, config.php, or look for version metadata within index.php itself. The affected versions are 1.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 4.3, 4.4, 4.4.1a, 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.2a, and 5.3.1.Affected if The installed PHP-Nuke version is 5.3.1 or earlier (any version from 1.0 through 5.2a)
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Verify the vulnerable file parameter exists in index.phpExamine the index.php source code and search for code that uses a 'file' parameter in an include, require, or similar function without proper input validation. Look for patterns like include($_GET['file']) or require($file).Affected if index.php contains code that dynamically includes files based on the 'file' parameter without sanitization
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Check PHP allow_url_fopen settingReview your php.ini configuration file for the allow_url_fopen directive, or create a PHP script containing phpinfo() and access it via a browser to view this setting.Affected if allow_url_fopen is enabled (set to On) - this setting is required for the remote URL inclusion to succeed
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Confirm the index.php is accessible via webVerify that index.php is publicly accessible on your web server. Check your web server configuration and access logs for requests to index.php.Affected if index.php is reachable over the network and can be invoked by remote attackers
The environment is affected if PHP-Nuke version 5.3.1 or earlier is installed, index.php contains the vulnerable 'file' parameter handling code, and PHP's allow_url_fopen is enabled, allowing remote attackers to include and execute malicious code from external URLs.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade PHP-Nuke to a patched version (5.5 or later). If upgrading is not feasible, disable allow_url_fopen in PHP configuration and implement strict input validation on the file parameter to prevent arbitrary file/path inclusion.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-0206 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2002-0206 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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