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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2020-12720: vBulletin before 5.5.6pl1, 5.6.0 before 5.6.0pl1, and 5.6.1 before 5.6.1pl1 has incorrect access control.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1—Weaponized No fix recorded

Noroxi assessment

Priority: This week (action score 66/100)

  • A ready-made attack module is public (Metasploit, Nuclei); exploiting it takes no special expertise.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 88.9% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.7% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.

Don’t wait for the next maintenance window. Until a fix is released, restrict access to the affected component and follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Published
May 7, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
88.9% · 99th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

66

This week

Don’t wait for the next maintenance window.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
27 / 30 · 88.9%

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • Weaponized exploit exists
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2020-12720

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
vbulletinvbulletin

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • vbulletin vbulletin5.0.0 and later · before 5.5.6
  • vbulletin vbulletin5.5.6
  • vbulletin vbulletin5.6.0
  • vbulletin vbulletin5.6.1.-

Same product

vbulletin: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2019-16759vBulletin 5.x through 5.5.4 allows remote command execution via the widgetConfig[code] parameter in an ajax/render/widget_php routestring…KEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2020-17496vBulletin 5.5.4 through 5.6.2 allows remote command execution via crafted subWidgets data in an…KEV
    95Now
  • CVE-2025-48827vBulletin 5.0.0 through 5.7.5 and 6.0.0 through 6.0.3 allows unauthenticated users to invoke protected API controllers' methods when…
    62This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2019-17132Oct 4, 2019 · vBulletin through 5.5.4 mishandles custom avatars.
    43Plan
  • ← EarlierCVE-2019-17271Oct 8, 2019 · vBulletin 5.5.4 allows SQL Injection via the ajax/api/hook/getHookList or ajax/api/widget/getWidgetList where parameter.
    19Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2020-25115Sep 3, 2020 · The Admin CP in vBulletin 5.6.3 allows XSS via an Occupation Title or Description to User Profile Field Manager.
    19Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×2
  • Nuclei detection template ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Metasploit moduleauxiliary/gather/vbulletin_getindexablecontent_sqlivBulletin /ajax/api/content_infraction/getIndexableContent nodeid Parameter SQL Injectionauxiliary2020-03-12
Metasploit moduleexploit/multi/http/vbulletin_getindexablecontentvBulletin /ajax/api/content_infraction/getIndexableContent nodeid Parameter SQL Injectionexploit2020-03-12
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2020-12720 —

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Metasploit-57 d
  2. Published
  3. TodayNov 14, 2026+2381 d

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

The query text is built by concatenating user input. The database cannot tell where the data ends and the command begins.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-89 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const owner = req.query.owner;const rows = await db.query(  "SELECT * FROM files WHERE owner = '" + owner + "'");

Fixed

ts
const owner = req.query.owner;const rows = await db.query(  "SELECT * FROM files WHERE owner = $1",  [owner]);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records