{"id":"CVE-2020-17496","published":"2020-08-12T14:15:13Z","modified":"2026-06-17T02:59:01Z","title":"vBulletin PHP Module Remote Code Execution Vulnerability","vendor":"vBulletin","product":"vBulletin","tier":"core","eol":null,"description":{"text":"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.","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"summary":{"text":"The vBulletin product (versions 5.5.4 through 5.6.2) contains a flaw in its PHP widget rendering component, where crafted subWidgets data sent to the ajax/render/widget_tabbedcontainer_tab_panel endpoint is not properly neutralized before being passed downstream. An attacker with network access can remotely execute commands on the server by sending a specially crafted request, requiring no authentication, no user interaction, and no special configuration.","provenance":"ai","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","generatedAt":"2026-10-30T13:36:03Z"},"cvss":{"score":9.8,"severity":"CRITICAL","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"epss":{"score":0.87478,"percentile":0.99756,"date":"2026-10-30","provenance":"source"},"kev":{"dateAdded":"2021-11-03","dueDate":"2022-05-03","ransomware":false,"requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","notes":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-17496","provenance":"source"},"vulncheckKev":{"dateAdded":"2020-12-14","exploitedFirstSeen":"2020-12-14","ransomware":false,"evidence":[{"url":"https://blogs.juniper.net/en-us/threat-research/everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-more-attacks-from-the-gitpaste-12-worm","date":"2020-12-14"},{"url":"https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-attack-trends-winter-2020/","date":"2021-04-12"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json","date":"2021-11-03"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-18&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-17496","date":"2023-11-18"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-20&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-17496","date":"2023-11-20"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-21&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-17496","date":"2023-11-21"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-22&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-17496","date":"2023-11-22"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-24&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-17496","date":"2023-11-24"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-25&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-17496","date":"2023-11-25"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-26&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-17496","date":"2023-11-26"}],"evidenceTotal":924,"provenance":"source"},"exploited":true,"otx":{"pulseCount":50,"pulses":[{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 29, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ae20c1db17e7057ae7d9ad1","created":"2026-10-28"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 28, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ae0ba7e0e2a97ff7b218819","created":"2026-10-27"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 27, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6adf68b85c3e852f3c111d18","created":"2026-10-26"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 24, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6adb740e397c3ad4799aa4cd","created":"2026-10-23"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 23, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ada236fcfba2dfa730ea482","created":"2026-10-22"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 22, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad8d33a077cbb5cab524d80","created":"2026-10-21"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 21, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad78130c4d1ac2be83a8b6d","created":"2026-10-20"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 20, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad62f63c24a405a3423cc13","created":"2026-10-19"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 19, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad4dda174e5797d0bd238b7","created":"2026-10-18"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 18, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad38c22e1848f8189d1c121","created":"2026-10-17"}],"provenance":"machine"},"cwes":[{"id":"CWE-74","name":"Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component"}],"references":[{"url":"https://blog.exploitee.rs/2020/exploiting-vbulletin-a-tale-of-patch-fail/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/78.html","tags":["Technical Description"]},{"url":"https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vbulletin-announcements/vbulletin-announcements_aa/4445227-vbulletin-5-6-0-5-6-1-5-6-2-security-patch","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://blog.exploitee.rs/2020/exploiting-vbulletin-a-tale-of-patch-fail/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/78.html","tags":["Technical Description"]},{"url":"https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vbulletin-announcements/vbulletin-announcements_aa/4445227-vbulletin-5-6-0-5-6-1-5-6-2-security-patch","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-17496","tags":["US Government Resource"]}],"techniques":[{"id":"T1190","name":"Exploit Public-Facing Application","tactics":["initial-access"],"provenance":"ai","basis":"ai-mapping","bases":["ai-mapping"],"basisDetail":"claude-haiku-5-5: Remote unauthenticated exploit of public-facing web application","mappingType":"exploitation_technique","evidence":[{"from":"description","quote":"allows remote command execution via crafted subWidgets data","start":30,"end":89}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"AI-mapped from the description (quote-validated, not expert-reviewed)"},{"id":"T1059","name":"Command and Scripting Interpreter","tactics":["execution"],"provenance":"ai","basis":"ai-mapping","bases":["ai-mapping"],"basisDetail":"claude-haiku-5-5: Achieves arbitrary command execution on server","mappingType":"primary_impact","evidence":[{"from":"description","quote":"allows remote command execution via crafted subWidgets data","start":30,"end":89}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"AI-mapped from the description (quote-validated, not expert-reviewed)"}],"reports":[],"affected":[],"advisories":[],"euvd":{"id":"EUVD-2020-9444","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2020-9444","exploited":true,"exploitedSince":"2021-11-03","provenance":"source"},"exploits":[],"exploitSources":{"pocGithub":{"count":2,"skipped":0,"earliest":"2020-08-20","earliestUrl":"https://github.com/ctlyz123/CVE-2020-17496","repos":[{"name":"ludy-dev/vBulletin_5.x-tab_panel-RCE","url":"https://github.com/ludy-dev/vBulletin_5.x-tab_panel-RCE","stars":3,"created":"2020-09-03"},{"name":"ctlyz123/CVE-2020-17496","url":"https://github.com/ctlyz123/CVE-2020-17496","stars":1,"created":"2020-08-20"}]},"metasploit":[{"name":"vBulletin 5.x /ajax/render/widget_tabbedcontainer_tab_panel PHP remote code execution.","module":"exploit/multi/http/vbulletin_widget_template_rce","type":"exploit","disclosureDate":"2020-08-09","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/vbulletin_widget_template_rce.rb"}],"nuclei":[{"id":"CVE-2020-17496","name":"vBulletin 5.5.4 - 5.6.2- Remote Command Execution","severity":"critical","path":"http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-17496.yaml","url":"https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-17496.yaml"}],"first":{"date":"2020-08-09","source":"Metasploit","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/vbulletin_widget_template_rce.rb"},"provenance":"source"},"exploitRefs":["https://blog.exploitee.rs/2020/exploiting-vbulletin-a-tale-of-patch-fail/","https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5"],"flow":[{"stage":"exploitation","techniques":["T1190"],"provenance":"ai"},{"stage":"primary","techniques":["T1059"],"provenance":"ai"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2020-08-09","kind":"exploit-public","label":"First public exploit: Metasploit; later: PoC-in-GitHub 2020-08-20","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/vbulletin_widget_template_rce.rb","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2020-08-12","kind":"published","label":"Published (NVD)","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-17496","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2020-12-14","kind":"exploited-reported","label":"Exploitation first reported (VulnCheck KEV evidence)","url":"https://blogs.juniper.net/en-us/threat-research/everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-more-attacks-from-the-gitpaste-12-worm","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2021-11-03","kind":"kev","label":"Added to CISA KEV","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2021-11-03","kind":"euvd-exploited","label":"ENISA EUVD: exploited","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2020-9444","provenance":"source"}],"speed":{"daysToPublicExploit":null,"firstExploitFrom":"Metasploit","daysToKev":448},"priority":{"score":69.8,"factors":[{"name":"In a KEV catalog","points":35.0,"detail":"listed in CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV"},{"name":"Recent KEV listing","points":0.0,"detail":"added 2147 days ago"},{"name":"Known ransomware use","points":0.0,"detail":"not known"},{"name":"EPSS percentile","points":19.95,"detail":"percentile 0.9976"},{"name":"Named in threat reports","points":0.0,"detail":"0 reports"},{"name":"Public exploit code","points":5.0,"detail":"2 NVD references tagged Exploit; 2 PoC-in-GitHub repos; 1 Metasploit module; 1 nuclei template"},{"name":"Mentioned in OTX pulses","points":3.0,"detail":"50 pulses"},{"name":"CVSS severity","points":6.86,"detail":"base score 9.8"},{"name":"End-of-life product","points":0.0,"detail":"supported or unknown"}]},"lineage":{"familyId":"fam-vbulletin-cve-2019-16759","parents":[{"from":"CVE-2019-16759","to":"CVE-2020-17496","relation":"incomplete-fix","confidence":"high","kind":"lineage","evidence":[{"kind":"text","provenance":"source","relation":"incomplete-fix","quote":"NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2019-16759.","from":"NVD","in":"CVE-2020-17496"}]}]}}