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TtforumApplication · Ttcms

CVE-2003-0331

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2003-06-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
SQL injection vulnerability in ttForum allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL and gain ttForum Administrator privileges via the Ignorelist-Textfield argument in the Preferences page.

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 confidence

SQL injection vulnerability in ttForum's Preferences page allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands through the Ignorelist-Textfield argument, potentially escalating privileges to administrator.

MitigationImplement parameterized queries or prepared statements for all user-supplied input in the Preferences page, particularly the Ignorelist-Textfield parameter, or apply vendor patch if available.

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
TtforumApplication
Affected:= 4

CVSS 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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm ttForum installation and version
    Locate ttForum files (typically in /ttforum/ or /forum/ directory) and check for version information in configuration files, README, or the main index file. Common locations: version.php, config.php, or the main script header.
    Affected if The installed version is Ttforum 4.x (specifically version 4)
  2. Verify Preferences page is accessible
    Check if the Preferences page is accessible via HTTP - typically at paths like /preferences.php, /index.php?action=preferences, or /ttforum/prefs.php depending on installation path.
    Affected if The Preferences page is reachable without authentication or with low-privilege user authentication
  3. Identify Ignorelist-Textfield parameter handling
    Examine the server-side code that processes the Ignorelist-Textfield parameter in the Preferences page. Look for SQL queries that directly incorporate this user-supplied input without using parameterized queries.
    Affected if The code builds SQL queries by concatenating or interpolating the Ignorelist-Textfield value directly into the query string
  4. Check database user privileges
    Review the database configuration to determine what privileges the application database user has. If it has elevated privileges (such as administrative roles or ability to modify user tables), exploitation could lead to privilege escalation.
    Affected if The application database user has privileges beyond read-only access to forum data
  5. Audit web server logs for suspicious Ignorelist parameter usage
    Review web server access logs for requests to the Preferences page that contain unusual characters (quotes, semicolons, UNION, etc.) in the Ignorelist-Textfield parameter.
    Affected if Log analysis reveals attempts to inject SQL syntax through this parameter

A user is affected if they are running Ttforum version 4 with the Preferences page accessible and the Ignorelist-Textfield parameter processed via string concatenation in SQL queries rather than parameterized queries.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement parameterized queries or prepared statements for all user-supplied input in the Preferences page, particularly the Ignorelist-Textfield parameter, or apply vendor patch if available.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. 1. Decommission the ttForum 4 installation as the software is abandoned and no longer maintained.
  2. 2. Migrate to a currently supported forum platform such as Discourse, Flarum, or NodeBB.
  3. 3. If continued use of ttForum is absolutely required, isolate the server on a completely isolated network segment with no external access.
  4. 4. Implement strict web application firewall (WAF) rules to block SQL injection attempts in all user inputs.
  5. 5. Ensure the database user ttForum connects with has minimal privileges (no DROP, no CREATE, read/write only on necessary tables).
  6. 6. Implement strong authentication for the server and disable any unnecessary services.
Caveat ttForum 4 is abandoned software with no available fix; the only secure path is to migrate to a supported platform

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Ttforum Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2003-0331 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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