CVE-2020-5502Network attack vector

Unauthorized group membership approval via missing form-token validation

Published Jan 14, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Cross-site request forgery in phpBB 3.2.8 allows remote attackers to approve pending group memberships through a crafted request. The pending-membership approval path does not properly enforce phpBB form-token validation before applying the logged-in group leader's action. Exploitation requires a group leader with an active session to submit an attacker-controlled request, and the consequence is limited to approval of pending group members.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.43%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Cross-site request forgery in phpBB 3.2.8 allows remote attackers to approve pending group memberships through a crafted request. The pending-membership approval path does not properly enforce phpBB form-token validation before applying the logged-in group leader's action. Exploitation requires a group leader with an active session to submit an attacker-controlled request, and the consequence is limited to approval of pending group members.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-5502
Published
Jan 14, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-352
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 14, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

6.5GitHub Security AdvisoryCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-352Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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