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Phpmychat PlusApplication · Phpheaven

CVE-2006-5897

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-11-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.9 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Multiple directory traversal vulnerabilities in PhpMyChat Plus 1.9 and earlier allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a .. (dot dot) in the ChatPath parameter to (1) avatar.php, (2) colorhelp_popup.php, (3) color_popup.php, (4) index.php, (5) index1.php, (6) lib/connected_users.lib.php, (7) lib/index.lib.php, and (8) phpMyChat.php3; and the (9) L parameter to logs.php. NOTE: CVE analysis suggests that vector 1 might be incorrect.

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 confidence

Multiple directory traversal vulnerabilities in PhpMyChat Plus 1.9 and earlier allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files via '..' sequences in the ChatPath parameter across at least 9 PHP files (avatar.php, colorhelp_popup.php, color_popup.php, index.php, index1.php, lib/connected_users.lib.php, lib/index.lib.php, phpMyChat.php3, logs.php). The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation on user-supplied path parameters.

MitigationImplement strict input validation on the ChatPath and L parameters to reject paths containing '..' sequences, or canonicalize paths and verify they resolve within expected directories before use. Upgrade to a patched version if available.

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
Phpmychat PlusApplication
Affected:<= 1.9

CVSS 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
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm PhpMyChat Plus installation
    Search the web server document root for phpMyChat-related directories or files, such as 'pmc', 'phpmychat', or 'chat'. Check for files like phpMyChat.php3, index.php, or a 'plus' directory containing chat functionality.
    Affected if PhpMyChat Plus is found on the server in a web-accessible location.
  2. Identify the installed version
    Locate the version information file, typically in the main PhpMyChat Plus directory. Look for a file named 'version.php', 'VERSION', or check the header comments in the main PHP files for a version number. Compare against the affected range: 1.9 and earlier.
    Affected if The installed version is 1.9 or any version lower than 1.9.
  3. Verify ChatPath parameter is processed
    Examine the vulnerable PHP files listed in the CVE (avatar.php, colorhelp_popup.php, color_popup.php, index.php, index1.php, lib/connected_users.lib.php, lib/index.lib.php, phpMyChat.php3, logs.php) to confirm they accept and process a 'ChatPath' parameter without sanitizing '..' sequences.
    Affected if The application processes the ChatPath parameter without rejecting '..' sequences.
  4. Check web exposure
    Determine if the PhpMyChat Plus application is accessible over the network. Attempt a test request to one of the vulnerable scripts with a modified ChatPath parameter (for example: ?ChatPath=../../../etc/passwd) to confirm whether input validation is missing.
    Affected if The application is web-accessible and accepts unsanitized path traversal sequences in the ChatPath parameter.

A user is affected if PhpMyChat Plus version 1.9 or earlier is installed, the application is web-accessible, and the ChatPath parameter can be manipulated with '..' sequences to access arbitrary files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.9
Interim mitigation

Implement strict input validation on the ChatPath and L parameters to reject paths containing '..' sequences, or canonicalize paths and verify they resolve within expected directories before use. Upgrade to a patched version if available.

Fix this in Phpmychat Plus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-5897 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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