CVE-2009-2545
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 · uneditedSQL injection vulnerability in Advanced Electron Forum (AEF) 1.x, when magic_quotes_gpc is disabled, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the filename in an uploaded attachment. NOTE: the provenance of this information is unknown; the details are obtained solely from third party information.
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 · moderate confidenceSQL injection vulnerability in AEF 1.x allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands through the attachment filename parameter during file upload processing. The vulnerability is exploitable when PHP's magic_quotes_gpc setting is disabled, which allows unsanitized input to reach the database query.
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= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 1.0.4= 1.0.5= 1.0.6= 1.0.7= 1.0.8CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed AEF versionCheck the version.php or version info file in the AEF installation directory, or look for version strings in the forum footer/admin panelAffected if version is 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 1.0.5, 1.0.6, 1.0.7, or 1.0.8
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Verify PHP magic_quotes_gpc settingCreate a PHP script with phpinfo() or check php.ini for the magic_quotes_gpc valueAffected if magic_quotes_gpc is set to Off or 0 (the vulnerability requires this to be disabled for exploitation)
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Confirm file attachment upload functionalityLocate the file upload module in the AEF installation (typically in modules/upload or similar) and verify it handles attachment filenamesAffected if the upload module processes attachment filenames without parameterized queries, using string concatenation in SQL statements
You are affected if you have AEF version 1.0.1-1.0.8 installed, magic_quotes_gpc is disabled, and the file attachment upload feature is active.
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 dataEnable magic_quotes_gpc as a temporary workaround; the primary fix requires code changes to use parameterized queries/prepared statements for the attachment filename handling in the upload module, replacing any string concatenation in SQL queries.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-2545 — 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-2009-2545 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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