CVE-2006-5735
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 include/common.php in PunBB before 1.2.14 allows remote authenticated users to include and execute arbitrary local files via a .. (dot dot) in the language parameter, related to register.php storing a language value in the users table.
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 PunBB's include/common.php allows authenticated remote users to include and execute arbitrary local files via '..' sequences in the language parameter, which is stored by register.php in the users table.
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<= 1.2.13CVSS 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 PunBB versionLocate the version file (usually version.php in the root directory) or check the footer of admin pages for the installed version numberAffected if Installed version is 1.2.13 or lower
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Examine include/common.php for language inclusionOpen include/common.php and search for code that includes language files using a parameter from the user profile or request (look for patterns like include($lang_path or require with language variable)Affected if The code directly uses a user-controlled language parameter without validating for directory traversal sequences (..) or restricting to allowed values
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Verify language parameter storage in register.phpReview register.php to confirm the language parameter from registration is stored in the users table database and can be controlled by the userAffected if register.php stores the language parameter directly to the users table without sanitization
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Test for directory traversal in language parameterAfter authenticating, attempt to modify the language setting to a path containing ../ sequences (such as ../../../etc/passwd or ../config.php) and observe if the application attempts to include files outside the language directoryAffected if The application accepts and attempts to include files using path traversal sequences in the language parameter
A user is affected if running PunBB version 1.2.13 or lower AND the language parameter from user registration/profile is included in common.php without filtering 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 language parameter to strip directory traversal sequences and restrict language selection to pre-defined, whitelisted language files.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-5735 — 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-2006-5735 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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