CVE-2005-2401
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 · uneditedPHP-Fusion allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) via the BBCode color tag.
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 · moderate confidencePHP-Fusion fails to properly sanitize input in the BBCode color tag, allowing remote attackers to inject arbitrary CSS. This CSS injection could enable session hijacking through cookie theft, page defacement, or execution of malicious scripts in the context of the vulnerable application.
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= 4.00= 4.01= 5.0= 5.01_service_pack= 6.0.105= 6.0.106CVSS 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 PHP-Fusion versionCheck the version.php file in the main PHP-Fusion directory or look for version information in the admin panel under System Info. The affected versions are: 4.00, 4.01, 5.0, 5.01_service_pack, 6.0.105, 6.0.106Affected if Your installed version matches one of the affected versions listed above
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Verify BBCode processing is enabledCheck if BBCode is enabled in the PHP-Fusion administration panel under the Posts or Settings configuration. The vulnerability exists in the BBCode color tag functionality.Affected if BBCode processing is enabled and users can submit content with BBCode formatting
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Check for user-generated content featuresIdentify if the site has features that allow users to submit content with BBCode enabled, such as comments, forum posts, articles, or private messages. These features process the color tag.Affected if The site allows users to post content that gets processed through BBCode parsing
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Inspect BBCode color tag handlingLocate the BBCode parsing file (typically includes/bbcode.php or similar) and examine how the color tag processes input. Look for lack of validation on the color parameter before it is output as CSS.Affected if The color tag parameter is inserted into output without sanitization or validation of valid color values only
You are affected if your PHP-Fusion version is 4.00, 4.01, 5.0, 5.01_service_pack, 6.0.105, or 6.0.106 AND you have BBCode enabled with user-submitted content features that process the color tag.
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 dataImplement strict input validation for the BBCode color parameter to accept only valid color values (hex codes, RGB, or predefined color names) and reject any CSS syntax or special characters that could be used for injection.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-2401 — 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-2005-2401 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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