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TwikiApplication

CVE-2008-5305

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-12-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.2.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Eval injection vulnerability in TWiki before 4.2.4 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary Perl code via the %SEARCH{}% variable.

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

Eval injection vulnerability in TWiki versions before 4.2.4 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary Perl code through the %SEARCH{}% variable. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of user-controlled input within an eval() call, enabling complete system compromise.

MitigationUpgrade TWiki to version 4.2.4 or later to remediate the eval injection vulnerability in the %SEARCH{}% variable. If immediate upgrade is not possible, consider disabling or restricting the %SEARCH{}% variable functionality as a temporary workaround.

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:<= 4.2.3= 4.0.0= 4.0.1= 4.0.2= 4.0.3= 4.0.4= 4.0.5= 4.1.0= 4.1.1= 4.1.2= 4.2.0= 4.2.1

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/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. Locate TWiki installation
    Check common installation paths such as /var/www/twiki, /usr/local/twiki, or the web server document root. Look for the bin/setlib.cfg or lib/TWiki.pm file which indicates a TWiki installation.
    Affected if TWiki is installed on the system in any location
  2. Identify TWiki version
    Open the lib/TWiki.pm file and locate the $VERSION or $RELEASE variable near the top of the file. Alternatively, check the TWikiVersion.txt file in the data/Main or lib directory.
    Affected if The installed version is 4.2.3 or earlier, or matches any of these: 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, 4.0.4, 4.0.5, 4.1.0, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.2.0, 4.2.1
  3. Verify SEARCH variable is enabled
    Check the lib/TWiki/Plugins/SearchPlugin.pm or lib/TWiki/Search.pm file to confirm the SEARCH functionality is present and not disabled. Also check lib/TWiki.cfg for any ALLOW or DENY settings that might restrict SEARCH.
    Affected if The %SEARCH{}% variable is enabled and accessible to users
  4. Check for user-accessible SEARCH usage
    Examine the lib/TWiki/Func.pm or search for sub definitions related to evalSearch and user input handling within the Search.pm module. Verify that user-provided input in %SEARCH{}% can reach an eval() call.
    Affected if The SEARCH variable processes user input through an eval() function without sanitization

If TWiki is installed and the version is 4.2.3 or earlier, and the %SEARCH{}% variable is enabled and accessible, the system is vulnerable to remote code execution.

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 4.2.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade TWiki to version 4.2.4 or later to remediate the eval injection vulnerability in the %SEARCH{}% variable. If immediate upgrade is not possible, consider disabling or restricting the %SEARCH{}% variable functionality as a temporary workaround.

Recommended fix High confidence

TWiki 4.2.4 (or later stable 4.2.x release)

  1. Identify the current TWiki version by examining the lib/TWiki.pm file or the administration UI.
  2. Create a full backup of the TWiki installation directory, data directory, and configuration files.
  3. Download TWiki version 4.2.4 (or the latest stable 4.2.x release) from the official TWiki website (https://twiki.org/).
  4. Extract the new archive and replace the lib and bin directories while preserving the data, pub, and local-lib directories and the twiki.conf configuration file.
  5. Restart the web server (e.g., Apache) to load the new TWiki binaries.
  6. Log in to TWiki and verify the version number is 4.2.4 or later.
  7. Test the %SEARCH{}% macro to confirm the eval injection vulnerability is patched and the functionality works as expected.
Caveat Customizations to the SEARCH macro or other core functionalities may be affected; review release notes and test thoroughly after upgrade.

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

Fix this in Twiki Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2008-5305 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