# CVE-2020-17496: vBulletin PHP Module Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

> CVE-2020-17496: vBulletin PHP Module Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. CVSS 9.8 (CVSS 3.1), in CISA KEV.

Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2020-17496
Last updated: 2025-10-21T23:35:38Z

- Published: 2020-08-12 13:07 UTC · Updated: 2025-10-21 23:35 UTC · Assigner: mitre
- CVSS: 9.8 (CVSS 3.1) · Severity: Critical · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS: 87.5%, 100th percentile (scored 2026-10-25)
- CISA KEV: yes, added 2021-11-03, federal due date 2022-05-03, ransomware use: Unknown

## 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.

## CISA required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

## Affected vendors and products

- vBulletin: vBulletin

## References

- [CVE record on cve.org](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-17496)
- [NVD entry](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-17496)
- [https://blog.exploitee.rs/2020/exploiting-vbulletin-a-tale-of-patch-fail/](https://blog.exploitee.rs/2020/exploiting-vbulletin-a-tale-of-patch-fail/)
- [https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/78.html](https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/78.html)
- [https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vbulletin-announcements/vbulletin-announcements\_aa/4445227-vbulletin-5-6-0-5-6-1-5-6-2-security-patch](https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vbulletin-announcements/vbulletin-announcements_aa/4445227-vbulletin-5-6-0-5-6-1-5-6-2-security-patch)
- [https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5](https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Aug/5)

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_Sources: CVE records from the CVE Program (cve.org). CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. (https://www.cve.org/) This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. (https://nvd.nist.gov/) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog from CISA. (https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog) EPSS scores from FIRST (Exploit Prediction Scoring System). (https://www.first.org/epss/)_


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Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2020-17496 · Markdown: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2020-17496.md · JSON: https://rewindex.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2020-17496 · Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) · Generated 2026-10-26T03:12:18.439Z