CVE-2005-3829
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 ActiveCampaign KnowledgeBuilder 2.4 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via an invalid category parameter, which causes a large number of SQL queries to be processed.
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 confidenceThe index.php script in ActiveCampaign KnowledgeBuilder 2.4 and earlier fails to properly validate the category parameter. When an invalid category value is provided, the application enters a code path that executes an excessive number of SQL queries in a loop, consuming server CPU resources and causing denial of service.
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= 2.4CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify KnowledgeBuilder installationLocate the ActiveCampaign KnowledgeBuilder application on the server by searching for the index.php file in web-accessible directories, typically under /kb, /knowledgebase, or similar paths.Affected if The index.php script from KnowledgeBuilder is found on the server.
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Determine the KnowledgeBuilder versionOpen the index.php file or check for a version file (such as version.php, about.php, or README) within the KnowledgeBuilder installation directory to identify the exact version number.Affected if The installed version is 2.4 or any version earlier than 2.4.
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Verify the vulnerable script existsConfirm that index.php exists in the KnowledgeBuilder root directory and is accessible via the web server.Affected if The index.php script is present and publicly accessible.
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Check for the category parameter processingExamine the index.php source code to locate the section that handles the 'category' parameter and determines if it performs SQL queries based on that input.Affected if The index.php contains code that processes a category parameter and executes SQL queries based on its value.
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Test for the vulnerability (optional)If authorized, send a request to index.php with an invalid or unexpected category value (for example, ?category=invalid) and observe if the response time is unusually long or if the server CPU spikes, indicating excessive query execution.Affected if The server exhibits high resource consumption or timeout when an invalid category value is provided.
A server is affected if it runs ActiveCampaign KnowledgeBuilder version 2.4 or earlier with the index.php script accessible and processing the category parameter without strict validation.
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 on the category parameter to reject invalid values before SQL query execution. Additionally, add query limiting/throttling at the database layer and consider rate limiting at the application level to prevent similar resource exhaustion attacks.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-3829 — 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-2005-3829 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data