Simple Machines ForumApplication · Simple Machines

CVE-2007-2546

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-05-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.1.2 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Session fixation vulnerability in Simple Machines Forum (SMF) 1.1.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to hijack web sessions by setting the PHPSESSID 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 confidence

Session fixation vulnerability in Simple Machines Forum (SMF) 1.1.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to set the PHPSESSID cookie value before victim authentication, enabling session hijacking once the victim logs in.

MitigationRegenerate session IDs upon user login using session_regenerate_id(true) and implement proper session validation to prevent attacker-controlled session fixation.

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
Simple Machines ForumApplication
Affected:<= 1.1.2

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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/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 checks

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

  1. Identify SMF version
    Access the admin control panel or check the version number displayed in the forum footer, or look for a version file in the SMF installation directory
    Affected if The installed version is 1.1.2 or any earlier version (1.1.1, 1.1.0, etc.)
  2. Check PHP session configuration
    Create a PHPinfo page or check the php.ini file for session.cookie_httponly settings and verify how PHPSESSID cookies are handled
    Affected if PHPSESSID cookies can be set or controlled by external sources before authentication
  3. Verify session ID regeneration on login
    Inspect the SMF source code (typically in LogIn.php or similar) to see if session_regenerate_id(true) is called after successful user authentication
    Affected if Session IDs are NOT regenerated upon user login - the same PHPSESSID persists before and after authentication
  4. Test session fixation vulnerability
    Set a known PHPSESSID value via cookie before logging in, then authenticate as a user and verify whether the same session ID is still active
    Affected if The attacker-controlled PHPSESSID remains active after the victim logs in, allowing session hijacking

You are affected if SMF version is 1.1.2 or earlier AND session IDs are not regenerated upon user login, allowing an attacker to pre-set the PHPSESSID and hijack authenticated sessions.

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 1.1.2
Interim mitigation

Regenerate session IDs upon user login using session_regenerate_id(true) and implement proper session validation to prevent attacker-controlled session fixation.

Fix this in Simple Machines Forum 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.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2007-2546 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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