# CVE-2005-3789: Path traversal in n/a

> Remote attackers can read arbitrary files via directory traversal in login and image scripts, exposing sensitive data.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 24 Nov 2005
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rc3g-f2jq-vw8x

## What is CVE-2005-3789?

CVE-2005-3789 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Nov 2005. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple directory traversal vulnerabilities in phpwcms 1.2.5 allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a .. (dot dot) in the (1) form_lang parameter in login.php and (2) the imgdir parameter in random_image.php.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2005-3789?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Phpwcms Phpwcms.

## How do I fix CVE-2005-3789?

No fix has been published for CVE-2005-3789 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2005-3789 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2005-3789 exists.

Public exploit code:

- PHPWCMS 1.2.5 -DEV - 'login.php?form_lang' Traversal Arbitrary File Access (exploitdb)
- PHPWCMS 1.2.5 -DEV - 'imgdir' Traversal Arbitrary File Access (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2021-36424](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36424/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-21784](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-21784/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-36426](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36426/): File upload in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2006-7019](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-7019/): Code injection in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2025-5499](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-5499/): slackero phpwcms image_resized.php getimagesize deserialization (medium 6.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2005-3789 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2005-3789 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Nov 2005. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2005-3789 exists.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-3789/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-3789/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-3789
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2005-3789
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2005-3789

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-3789/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.