CVE-2005-0429
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 · uneditedDirect code injection vulnerability in forumdisplay.php in vBulletin 3.0 through 3.0.4, when showforumusers is enabled, allows remote attackers to execute inject arbitrary PHP commands via the comma 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 confidenceCode injection vulnerability in vBulletin 3.0-3.0.4 forumdisplay.php allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary PHP commands via the 'comma' parameter when the showforumusers feature is enabled. The application fails to sanitize this parameter before using it in dynamic code execution.
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= 3.0= 3.0.1= 3.0.2= 3.0.3= 3.0.4CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
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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Identify vBulletin versionCheck the version.php file in the includes directory, or view the admin control panel Dashboard which displays the installed version. Look for a version string like 3.0.xAffected if version is 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.0.3, or 3.0.4
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Locate forumdisplay.phpFind the forumdisplay.php file in the web root or forum directory of the vBulletin installationAffected if the file exists and the vBulletin version is in the affected range
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Check if showforumusers feature is enabledIn the admin control panel, go to vBulletin Options > Forum Display Options and look for 'Show Forum Users' or 'showforumusers' setting. Alternatively, search the forumdisplay.php file for the string 'showforumusers' to see if the feature logic is presentAffected if showforumusers feature is enabled or the related code is present in forumdisplay.php
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Examine comma parameter handling in forumdisplay.phpOpen forumdisplay.php and search for the 'comma' parameter handling. Look for code that uses this parameter in dynamic evaluation functions like eval() or preg_replace() with the 'e' modifier without proper sanitizationAffected if the comma parameter is used in dynamic code execution without sanitization (vulnerable code pattern present)
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Test for vulnerability exposureIf the above conditions are met, the environment is potentially affected. A manual test would involve submitting a crafted request to forumdisplay.php with the showforumusers feature enabled and a malicious comma parameter valueAffected if vBulletin version is 3.0-3.0.4 AND showforumusers is enabled AND the vulnerable code pattern exists
You are affected if running vBulletin version 3.0 through 3.0.4 with the showforumusers feature enabled and the vulnerable code present in forumdisplay.php.
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 to vBulletin 3.0.5 or later, or disable the showforumusers feature if upgrading is not immediately feasible. If the feature must remain enabled, apply input validation/sanitization to the comma parameter to prevent PHP code injection.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-0429 — 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-2005-0429 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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