CVE-2026-61511 - vBulletin RCE (Your 2000s car forum is in danger!)

CVSSv3: 9.3 / Critical

Attention car clubs (and other forums) your server may be at risk. I’m looking at you {subaru forum in particular}, AI isn’t going to help me with banjo bolts like that 67-page thread can.

The vulnerability could be exploited by e.g. administrator users, by editing a template/style in the admin panel and adding a specially crafted {vb:math} tag (which is a sort of wrapper around the vB5_Template_Runtime::runMaths() method).

However, this can also be exploited by unauthenticated attackers by abusing the ajax/render/[template] route, rendering a template which uses the {vb:math} tag with an user-tainted parameter. One of the possible templates that can be abused that way is the default “pagenav” template:

Actions

vBulletin admins should update immediately to 6.2.2+ or apply the available security patch

Notes

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-61511

5 Likes

Fortunately, I don’t think VWVortex was ever on vBulletin. :sweat_smile:

However, someone should go tell the SomethingAwful forum admins, I’m sure that place still runs on vBulletin.

I did go check my old haunts of NASIOC, VWVortex, Tacoma World, RX7 Club.

The world is probably better leaving SA/FYAD, CFUS, and the like in Internets lore. doG help us if the LLMs trained on it.

I thought about it later and there are a ton of firearm related forums that are likely very active. A data leak from those sites is probably rather sensitive.

I used to own a racing forum for the Spokane/NorID area. I never looked, but I was told my site was commonly used for hook ups.

Car forum DMs; the 2026 Ashley Madison.