CVE-2005-4852
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 · uneditedThe siteaccess URIMatching implementation in eZ publish 3.5 through 3.8 before 20050812 converts all non-alphanumeric characters in a URI to '_' (underscore), which allows remote attackers to bypass access restrictions by inserting certain characters in a URI, as demonstrated by a request for /admin:de, which matches a rule allowing only /admin_de to access /admin.
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 confidenceThe siteaccess URIMatching implementation in eZ publish 3.5 through 3.8 converts all non-alphanumeric characters in URIs to underscores ('_'), allowing attackers to bypass access restrictions by inserting special characters. For example, a request for /admin:de can match a rule intended to allow only /admin_de access.
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>= 3.5.0, < 3.5.8CVSS 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 eZ Publish versionCheck the installed eZ Publish version by inspecting the kernel/setup information or version file typically found in the installation directoryAffected if The installed version is >= 3.5.0 and < 3.5.8, or between 3.5 and 3.8 if using the broader range mentioned in the summary
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Verify siteaccess module is activeInspect the siteaccess configuration files and determine if the siteaccess system is enabled and processing URIsAffected if Siteaccess module is enabled and handling URI routing for the installation
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Examine URI matching configurationReview the siteaccess URIMatching configuration settings that define how URIs are processed and matched against access rulesAffected if The URI matching logic converts or normalizes characters, particularly non-alphanumeric characters to underscores, creating equivalence between different URI patterns
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Test URI pattern matching behaviorCompare how the system handles URIs with special characters (e.g., /admin:de) versus the same characters as underscores (e.g., /admin_de) against defined access rulesAffected if A request with special characters matches an access rule intended only for the underscore-substituted version, indicating the character substitution bypass exists
The environment is affected if eZ Publish version 3.5.0-3.5.8 (or 3.5-3.8) is running with siteaccess URIMatching enabled and the URI normalization creates unintended equivalences between different character representations.
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 data3.5.8
Replace the character substitution logic with proper input validation that normalizes URIs consistently and performs exact or canonical matching against access rules without creating unintended equivalences.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-4852 — 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-2005-4852 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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