CVE-2004-1315
viewtopic.php in phpBB 2.x before 2.0.11 improperly URL decodes the highlight parameter when extracting words and phrases to highlight,…
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 72.5%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.6% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 5Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
viewtopic.php in phpBB 2.x before 2.0.11 improperly URL decodes the highlight parameter when extracting words and phrases to highlight, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code by double-encoding the highlight value so that special characters are inserted into the result, which is then processed by PHP exec, as exploited by the Santy.A worm.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module and 4 Exploit-DB entries for it.
Show the exploits5
Metasploit modules1 module
- phpBB viewtopic.php Arbitrary Code Execution (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/unix/webapp/phpbb_highlightRank excellentdisclosed 12 Nov 2004
Exploit-DB4 entries
- phpBB - 'viewtopic.php' Arbitrary Code Execution (Metasploit) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 16890webapps, phppublished 3 Jul 2010Verified
- PHP-Nuke 7.0/8.1/8.1.35 - Wormable Remote Code Execution (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 12510webapps, phppublished 5 May 2010Not verified
- phpBB 2.0.10 - Remote Command Execution (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 647webapps, phppublished 22 Nov 2004Verified
- phpBB 2.0.x - 'viewtopic.php' PHP Script Injection (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 24274webapps, phppublished 12 Jul 2004Verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 9 days later
· 9 days later
Published
- 20 years later
· 20 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 2.0 | High7.5 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 72.5% · top 0.6% of all CVEs (9 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
11
- 10701 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- GLSA-200411-32 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOOx_transferred
- 20041220 phpBB Worm (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- phpbb-view-sql-injection(18052) (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_XFx_transferred
- http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=240513 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- VU#497400 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERT-VNx_transferred
- TA04-356A (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERTx_transferred
- 13239 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- 20041118 EXEC exploit in phpBB - fix (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- 20041222 Re: phpBB Worm (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- 20041112 phpBB Code EXEC (v2.0.10) (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2004-1312 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2004-1315)Record last updated .