CVE-2006-5498
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 · uneditedDirectory traversal vulnerability in themes/program/themesettings.inc.php in Segue CMS 1.5.8 and earlier allows remote attackers to include and execute arbitrary local files via a .. (dot dot) in the theme 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 confidenceDirectory traversal vulnerability in Segue CMS 1.5.8 and earlier allows remote attackers to include and execute arbitrary local files via '..' sequences in the theme parameter of themes/program/themesettings.inc.php. This is a classic Local File Inclusion (LFI) flaw that could enable remote code execution if an attacker includes files containing malicious PHP code.
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<= 1.5.8CVSS 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
- 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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Identify if Segue CMS is installedSearch web directories for Segue CMS files such as index.php, segue.php, or the themes/ directory structure. Check for Middlebury College Segue branding in page footers or source code.Affected if Segue CMS files are found in the web root or subdirectories
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Determine the Segue CMS versionLook for version.php, VERSION file, or check the footer of the application for version numbers. Also check changelog or readme files that may contain version information.Affected if The installed version is 1.5.8 or any earlier version (1.5.x where x is any number, or 1.4.x, etc.)
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Locate the vulnerable fileCheck for the presence of themes/program/themesettings.inc.php in the web-accessible directory structure. This file handles theme settings and the theme parameter processing.Affected if The file themes/program/themesettings.inc.php exists on the server
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Verify theme parameter processingExamine the source code of themes/program/themesettings.inc.php to see if it directly uses the 'theme' parameter from user input (GET/POST) without proper sanitization, and includes files based on this parameter.Affected if The code uses the theme parameter in an include or require statement without using basename() or realpath() for validation
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Check PHP configuration for file inclusionVerify that PHP's allow_url_include is disabled (which is good), but also check that the web server has permissions to read sensitive local files that could be included via directory traversal.Affected if The PHP application can read and include files from directories outside the intended theme folder using ../ sequences in the theme parameter
A system is affected if it runs Middlebury College Segue CMS version 1.5.8 or earlier with the themes/program/themesettings.inc.php file present and accessible, where the theme parameter can be manipulated with directory traversal sequences.
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 theme parameter using basename() or realpath() to strip directory traversal sequences, and ensure the theme path resolves within an allowed directory whitelist.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-5498 — 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-2006-5498 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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