{"id":"CVE-2019-16759","published":"2019-09-24T22:15:13Z","modified":"2026-06-17T02:22:44Z","title":"vBulletin PHP Module Remote Code Execution Vulnerability","vendor":"vBulletin","product":"vBulletin","tier":"core","eol":null,"description":{"text":"vBulletin 5.x through 5.5.4 allows remote command execution via the widgetConfig[code] parameter in an ajax/render/widget_php routestring request.","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"summary":{"text":"The vulnerability is in the PHP module of vBulletin, affecting versions 5.x through 5.5.4, where the widgetConfig[code] parameter in an ajax/render/widget_php request is not properly controlled, allowing code to be generated and executed. An attacker with network access can exploit it remotely without authentication or user interaction by sending a crafted request to that endpoint, achieving remote command execution on the server.","provenance":"ai","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","generatedAt":"2026-10-29T08:31:41Z"},"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":0.99728,"percentile":0.99953,"date":"2026-10-28","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-2019-16759","provenance":"source"},"vulncheckKev":{"dateAdded":"2019-10-09","exploitedFirstSeen":"2019-10-09","ransomware":false,"evidence":[{"url":"https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/exploits-in-the-wild-for-vbulletin-pre-auth-rce-vulnerability-cve-2019-16759/","date":"2019-10-09"},{"url":"https://www.imperva.com/blog/crimeops-of-the-kashmirblack-botnet-part-ii/","date":"2020-11-22"},{"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://media.kasperskycontenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2023/11/09055246/Modern-Asian-APT-groups-TTPs_report_eng.pdf","date":"2023-11-09"},{"url":"https://www.cloudsek.com/blog/botnet-loader-as-a-service-infrastructure-distributing-rondodox-and-mirai-payloads","date":"2025-09-25"}],"evidenceTotal":6,"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-94","name":"Improper Control of Generation of Code"}],"references":[{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154623/vBulletin-5.x-0-Day-Pre-Auth-Remote-Command-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154648/vBulletin-5.x-Pre-Auth-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/155633/vBulletin-5.5.4-Remote-Command-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158829/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158830/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158866/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/public-exploit-code-spawns-mass-attacks-against-high-severity-vbulletin-bug/","tags":["Exploit","Press/Media Coverage","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/Sep/31","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/24/vbulletin_vbug_zeroday/","tags":["Press/Media Coverage","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154623/vBulletin-5.x-0-Day-Pre-Auth-Remote-Command-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154648/vBulletin-5.x-Pre-Auth-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/155633/vBulletin-5.5.4-Remote-Command-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158829/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158830/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158866/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/public-exploit-code-spawns-mass-attacks-against-high-severity-vbulletin-bug/","tags":["Exploit","Press/Media Coverage","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/Sep/31","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/24/vbulletin_vbug_zeroday/","tags":["Press/Media Coverage","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-16759","tags":["US Government Resource"]}],"techniques":[{"id":"T1190","name":"Exploit Public-Facing Application","tactics":["initial-access"],"provenance":"source","basis":"ctid-cve","bases":["ctid-cve","ai-mapping"],"basisDetail":"CTID attack_to_cve (Phase 1); claude-haiku-5-5: Remote HTTP request exploits public-facing web application","mappingType":"uncategorized","evidence":[{"from":"description","quote":"allows remote command execution via the widgetConfig[code] parameter","start":28,"end":96}],"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: Injected code executes commands on the server","mappingType":"primary_impact","evidence":[{"from":"description","quote":"allows remote command execution via the widgetConfig[code] parameter","start":28,"end":96}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"AI-mapped from the description (quote-validated, not expert-reviewed)"}],"reports":[{"id":"SRC-ea47048704591aa9939a","title":"Ghost in the shell: Investigating web shell attacks","publisher":"microsoft.com","url":"https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2020/02/04/ghost-in-the-shell-investigating-web-shell-attacks/","date":"2020-02-04","mentions":[{"quote":"To implant web shells, adversaries take advantage of security gaps in internet-facing web servers, typically vulnerabilities in web applications, for example CVE-2019-0604 or CVE-2019-16759.","start":2627,"end":2817}]}],"affected":[],"advisories":[],"euvd":{"id":"EUVD-2019-7294","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2019-7294","exploited":true,"exploitedSince":"2021-11-03","provenance":"source"},"exploits":[{"id":47437,"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/47437","title":"vBulletin 5.x - Remote Command Execution (Metasploit)","type":"webapps","platform":"php","date":"2019-09-30","verified":false,"provenance":"source"},{"id":47447,"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/47447","title":"vBulletin 5.0 < 5.5.4 - 'widget_php ' Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution","type":"webapps","platform":"php","date":"2019-09-23","verified":false,"provenance":"source"}],"exploitSources":{"exploitdb":{"count":2,"earliest":"2019-09-23"},"pocGithub":{"count":11,"skipped":2,"earliest":"2019-09-25","earliestUrl":"https://github.com/M0sterHxck/CVE-2019-16759-Vbulletin-rce-exploit","repos":[{"name":"jas502n/CVE-2019-16759","url":"https://github.com/jas502n/CVE-2019-16759","stars":21,"created":"2019-09-26"},{"name":"theLSA/vbulletin5-rce","url":"https://github.com/theLSA/vbulletin5-rce","stars":20,"created":"2019-10-02"},{"name":"0xdims/CVE-2019-16759","url":"https://github.com/0xdims/CVE-2019-16759","stars":6,"created":"2020-08-16"},{"name":"M0sterHxck/CVE-2019-16759-Vbulletin-rce-exploit","url":"https://github.com/M0sterHxck/CVE-2019-16759-Vbulletin-rce-exploit","stars":5,"created":"2019-09-25"},{"name":"FarjaalAhmad/CVE-2019-16759","url":"https://github.com/FarjaalAhmad/CVE-2019-16759","stars":4,"created":"2019-10-12"}]},"metasploit":[{"name":"vBulletin widgetConfig RCE","module":"exploit/multi/http/vbulletin_widgetconfig_rce","type":"exploit","disclosureDate":"2019-09-23","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/vbulletin_widgetconfig_rce.rb"}],"nuclei":[{"id":"CVE-2019-16759","name":"vBulletin 5.0.0-5.5.4 - Remote Command Execution","severity":"critical","path":"http/cves/2019/CVE-2019-16759.yaml","url":"https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2019/CVE-2019-16759.yaml"}],"first":{"date":"2019-09-23","source":"Exploit-DB","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/47447"},"provenance":"source"},"exploitRefs":["http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154623/vBulletin-5.x-0-Day-Pre-Auth-Remote-Command-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154648/vBulletin-5.x-Pre-Auth-Remote-Code-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/155633/vBulletin-5.5.4-Remote-Command-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158829/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158830/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158866/vBulletin-5.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5","https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/public-exploit-code-spawns-mass-attacks-against-high-severity-vbulletin-bug/","https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/Sep/31"],"flow":[{"stage":"primary","techniques":["T1059"],"provenance":"ai"},{"stage":"related","techniques":["T1190"],"provenance":"source"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2019-09-23","kind":"exploit-public","label":"First public exploit: Exploit-DB (EDB-47447); later: Metasploit 2019-09-23, PoC-in-GitHub 2019-09-25","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/47447","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2019-09-24","kind":"published","label":"Published (NVD)","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16759","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2019-10-09","kind":"exploited-reported","label":"Exploitation first reported (VulnCheck KEV evidence)","url":"https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/exploits-in-the-wild-for-vbulletin-pre-auth-rce-vulnerability-cve-2019-16759/","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2020-02-04","kind":"report","label":"Named in microsoft.com: Ghost in the shell: Investigating web shell attacks","url":"https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2020/02/04/ghost-in-the-shell-investigating-web-shell-attacks/","provenance":"machine"},{"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-2019-7294","provenance":"source"}],"speed":{"daysToPublicExploit":null,"firstExploitFrom":"Exploit-DB","daysToKev":771},"priority":{"score":73.7,"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 2577 days ago"},{"name":"Known ransomware use","points":0.0,"detail":"not known"},{"name":"EPSS percentile","points":19.99,"detail":"percentile 0.9995"},{"name":"Named in threat reports","points":3.87,"detail":"1 report"},{"name":"Public exploit code","points":5.0,"detail":"9 NVD references tagged Exploit; 2 Exploit-DB entries; 11 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","children":[{"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"}]},{"from":"CVE-2019-16759","to":"CVE-2020-7373","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":"CVE.org","in":"CVE-2020-7373"}]}]}}