CVE-2005-3816
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 · uneditedMultiple SQL injection vulnerabilities in forum.php in freeForum 1.1 and earlier and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the (1) cat parameter or (2) thread parameter in thread mode.
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 confidenceSQL injection vulnerabilities in forum.php allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands through the cat and thread parameters without authentication, due to improper input validation in SQL queries.
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<= 1.1CVSS 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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Locate Zoneo Soft Freeforum installationSearch the web server filesystem for the 'forum.php' file or any files containing 'Freeforum' branding/version stringsAffected if The software is found on the system and appears to be Zoneo Soft Freeforum version 1.1 or lower
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Identify the Freeforum versionCheck any version files, README files, or the footer/header of the forum pages for version number disclosureAffected if The installed version is 1.1 or any version lower than 1.1 (no patch has been applied)
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Verify forum.php exists and is accessibleConfirm that forum.php is present in the web-accessible directory and responds to HTTP requestsAffected if forum.php is accessible over the network
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Confirm the cat and thread parameters are acceptedSubmit a request to forum.php with the 'cat' or 'thread' parameter (e.g., forum.php?cat=1) and observe if the application processes the inputAffected if The application accepts and processes input through the cat or thread parameters without immediate error
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Check for evidence of SQL injection vulnerabilitySubmit a test payload with SQL metacharacters (e.g., forum.php?cat=1' OR '1'='1) and observe the database response or error messagesAffected if The application returns SQL syntax errors or exhibits unexpected behavior indicating unsanitized input is passed to the database
A system is affected if Zoneo Soft Freeforum version 1.1 or lower is installed with forum.php accessible and the cat/thread parameters accept user input without proper sanitization.
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 parameterized queries or prepared statements for the cat and thread parameters in forum.php, or upgrade to a patched version if available.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-3816 — 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-2005-3816 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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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.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data