CVE-2024-37657 in gnuboard5
Summary
by MITRE • 07/07/2025
An open redirect vulnerability in gnuboard5 v.5.5.16 allows a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information via thebbs/login.php component.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/11/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-37657 represents a critical open redirect flaw within the gnuboard5 content management system version 5.5.16. This issue resides in the thebbs/login.php component which serves as a primary authentication entry point for the platform. The open redirect vulnerability occurs when the application fails to properly validate and sanitize user-supplied input parameters that control redirection behavior after successful authentication attempts. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious URLs that contain crafted redirect parameters pointing to external domains, potentially enabling them to redirect users to malicious websites while maintaining the appearance of legitimate system navigation.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability falls under the CWE-601 category of Open Redirect vulnerabilities, which specifically addresses situations where web applications fail to validate redirect destinations, allowing attackers to redirect users to arbitrary web addresses. The flaw manifests when the login component processes redirect URL parameters without adequate validation, permitting attackers to inject malicious URLs that bypass normal security controls. This creates a significant risk because the vulnerable component handles authentication flows where users expect to be redirected to trusted internal resources after successful login operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple redirection attacks and can enable sophisticated social engineering campaigns. When users are redirected to malicious sites through the legitimate login interface, they may unknowingly provide credentials to attackers or be exposed to malware distribution points. The vulnerability particularly affects systems where users trust the gnuboard5 platform and its login process, making it an attractive vector for credential harvesting attacks. Additionally, the vulnerability can be leveraged to perform phishing operations where attackers craft convincing URLs that appear to originate from legitimate internal systems, potentially bypassing security awareness training programs.
Security practitioners should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and sanitization of all redirect parameters within the login component, ensuring that only absolute URLs from predefined trusted domains are accepted. The implementation should follow the principle of least privilege by restricting redirect destinations to internal system resources only. Organizations should also consider implementing strict header validation and URL parsing mechanisms that prevent the acceptance of external redirect parameters. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to technique T1566.001 (Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment) and T1071.004 (Application Layer Protocol: DNS) as attackers can leverage the open redirect to deliver malicious payloads through seemingly legitimate authentication flows. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the web application stack, as open redirect flaws often indicate broader input validation weaknesses within the application architecture.