CVE-2015-6012
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 · uneditedMultiple open redirect vulnerabilities in Web Reference Database (aka refbase) through 0.9.6 and bleeding-edge before 2015-01-08 allow remote attackers to redirect users to arbitrary web sites and conduct phishing attacks via the referrer 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 confidenceWeb Reference Database (refbase) versions through 0.9.6 and bleeding-edge versions before 2015-01-08 contain open redirect vulnerabilities in the handling of the referrer parameter. Attackers can craft malicious URLs that appear to be on the legitimate refbase domain but redirect users to arbitrary external sites, facilitating phishing campaigns.
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<= 0.9.6CVSS 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
- None
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm refbase installationCheck for refbase installation by locating typical installation paths such as /var/www/html/refbase, /www/refbase, or search for 'refbase' in web root directories. Also check for refbase-related files like index.php, initialize/db_init.php, or common/refbase.php.Affected if refbase is present on the system
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Identify installed refbase versionCheck the version by logging into the refbase web interface and viewing the footer or about page. Alternatively, check version files in the installation directory such as version.txt, CHANGELOG, or within PHP files that may contain version constants.Affected if version is 0.9.6 or lower, or bleeding-edge versions dated before 2015-01-08
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Locate referrer parameter handling codeSearch PHP source files for code handling the 'referrer' parameter, typically in files involving redirection or header functions such as header(), Location:, or similar redirect logic. Look for patterns like $_REQUEST['referrer'] or $_GET['referrer'] being used in redirect contexts.Affected if code exists that processes and uses the referrer parameter for redirects without validation
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Inspect redirect logic for validation gapsExamine the redirect handling code identified in the previous step to determine if the referrer parameter value is validated against an allowlist or if external URLs are allowed without user confirmation. Check for any whitelist implementation or validation routines.Affected if redirect logic accepts arbitrary URLs in the referrer parameter without strict validation or user prompts
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Test for open redirect behavior (if safe to do so)In a non-production environment, construct a test URL with a referrer parameter pointing to an external domain (for example: https://your-refbase-site/some-page.php?referrer=http://example.com) and observe if the application redirects to the external site without validation warnings.Affected if the application redirects to the arbitrary URL specified in the referrer parameter without validation
A system is affected if it runs refbase version 0.9.6 or lower (or pre-2015-01-08 bleeding-edge) and contains code that processes the referrer parameter for redirects without proper allowlist validation.
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 dataImplement strict validation of the referrer parameter using an allowlist approach that only permits known-safe redirect destinations, or disable external redirects entirely and require user confirmation before any off-site navigation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-6012 — 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-2015-6012 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data