CVE-2020-17496
vBulletin PHP Module Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 3 May 2022). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
vBulletin 5.5.4 through 5.6.2 allows remote command execution via crafted subWidgets data in an ajax/render/widget_tabbedcontainer_tab_panel request. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2019-16759.
- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 87.48% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Listed 3 November 2021 · due 3 May 2022
- Weakness
- CWE-74
- Affected
- vbulletin/vbulletin
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 87.5% since 30 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-17496
References
- https://blog.exploitee.rs/2020/exploiting-vbulletin-a-tale-of-patch-fail/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/78.htmlTechnical Description
- https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vbulletin-announcements/vbulletin-announcements_aa/4445227-vbulletin-5-6-0-5-6-1-5-6-2-security-patchPatch, Vendor Advisory
- https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://blog.exploitee.rs/2020/exploiting-vbulletin-a-tale-of-patch-fail/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/78.htmlTechnical Description
- https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vbulletin-announcements/vbulletin-announcements_aa/4445227-vbulletin-5-6-0-5-6-1-5-6-2-security-patchPatch, Vendor Advisory
- https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-17496US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.