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TwikiApplication

CVE-2006-6071

HIGH · 9.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-12-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.0.5 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
TWiki 4.0.5 and earlier, when running under Apache 1.3 using ApacheLogin with sessions and "ErrorDocument 401" redirects to a valid wiki topic, does not properly handle failed login attempts, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary content by cancelling out of a failed authentication with a valid username and invalid password.

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

TWiki 4.0.5 and earlier with ApacheLogin sessions and ErrorDocument 401 redirecting to a valid wiki topic fails to properly handle authentication failures. Attackers can use a valid username with an invalid password, then cancel the failed authentication to bypass access controls and read arbitrary wiki content.

MitigationUpgrade to TWiki 4.0.6 or later, or reconfigure ErrorDocument 401 to not redirect to an authenticated wiki topic; ensure Apache authentication properly terminates sessions on 401 errors.

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
TwikiApplication
Affected:<= 4.0.5

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
Single
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

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

  1. Identify installed TWiki version
    Locate and inspect the TWiki version file (typically lib/TWiki.pm or lib/LocalSite.cfg) to determine the exact version number
    Affected if Version is 4.0.5 or earlier
  2. Verify ApacheLogin is the active authentication manager
    Check the TWiki configuration (lib/LocalSite.cfg or configure script) for the {AuthManager} or {LoginManager} setting to confirm ApacheLogin is in use
    Affected if ApacheLogin is configured as the authentication manager
  3. Check ErrorDocument 401 configuration in Apache
    Inspect the Apache configuration files (httpd.conf, .htaccess, or virtual host configuration) for 'ErrorDocument 401' directives and examine where the 401 error redirects
    Affected if ErrorDocument 401 is set to redirect to a valid wiki topic (a URL path that resolves to an existing TWiki page)
  4. Verify Apache session handling on 401 errors
    Review the Apache authentication configuration to determine if session cookies/tokens are properly cleared or invalidated when a 401 error occurs
    Affected if Apache does not properly terminate or invalidate sessions upon receiving 401 authentication failures

A user is affected if running TWiki 4.0.5 or earlier with ApacheLogin enabled and ErrorDocument 401 configured to redirect to an authenticated wiki topic without proper session termination on 401 errors.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.0.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to TWiki 4.0.6 or later, or reconfigure ErrorDocument 401 to not redirect to an authenticated wiki topic; ensure Apache authentication properly terminates sessions on 401 errors.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

TWiki 4.0.6 or later

  1. Back up your current TWiki installation and data directory
  2. Download TWiki 4.0.6 or later from the official TWiki website (twiki.org)
  3. Extract the new version to a temporary location
  4. Install the new version, preserving your existing data/ and pub/ directories
  5. Review and update configuration files as needed for the new version
  6. Test the ApacheLogin authentication flow to verify the vulnerability is fixed
  7. Verify that failed login attempts no longer allow unauthorized content access
Caveat Review TWiki release notes for any configuration or feature changes between your current version and 4.0.6

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Twiki Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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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-2006-6071 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