On August 16, 2026 the forum was hacked. Numerous messages were deleted. What remained was no longer usable, as deleted post IDs in the database alternated, creating disjointed fragments. SourceForge support reported that they don't make regular backups. The last one they could restore was from 2023. On my end, the most recent backup I made was from October 6, 2024. This was the one that was restored.
The suspected issue with phpBB version 3.3.10 was "user data was not handled correctly, which could lead to a potential SQL injection attack via profile field data." The phpBB forum has been updated to the latest version.
Result:
Lost posts from October 6, 2024 - August 16, 2026
Forum hack
- Author
- Message
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Offline
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:27 am
Re: Forum hack
Geez... what a real shame about the hack and all the lost posts! 
It actually seemed pretty weird to me at first when it said I had been banned from the forum and needed to contact some strange email address.
I had created 2 posts about some plugins I made, so I guess I'll just have to put them together again!
It actually seemed pretty weird to me at first when it said I had been banned from the forum and needed to contact some strange email address.
I had created 2 posts about some plugins I made, so I guess I'll just have to put them together again!
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Offline
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:27 am
Re: Forum hack
Maybe it's time to tighten up the security and anti-spam measures?
The forum has always been heavily targeted by spam bots that flood the boards with junk. Even though the manual cleanup works, they just keep coming back endlessly.
Maybe a few extra steps or conditions for new registrations? For example:
Custom Security Questions: Simple questions with multiple choices, like:
Which of the following is NOT a text editor? (Options: Notepad++, Geany, AkelPad, VSCode...)
What is the main topic of this forum? (Options: AkelPad, Cooking recipes, Quantum physics...)
Post Restrictions for New Accounts: Temporarily limit newly registered accounts from creating posts or starting new threads right away until a certain condition is met (like a short waiting period or manual approval for the first post).
Email Verification / Captcha Enhancements: Stronger CAPTCHA solutions (like hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile) during the signup process.
The forum has always been heavily targeted by spam bots that flood the boards with junk. Even though the manual cleanup works, they just keep coming back endlessly.
Maybe a few extra steps or conditions for new registrations? For example:
Custom Security Questions: Simple questions with multiple choices, like:
Which of the following is NOT a text editor? (Options: Notepad++, Geany, AkelPad, VSCode...)
What is the main topic of this forum? (Options: AkelPad, Cooking recipes, Quantum physics...)
Post Restrictions for New Accounts: Temporarily limit newly registered accounts from creating posts or starting new threads right away until a certain condition is met (like a short waiting period or manual approval for the first post).
Email Verification / Captcha Enhancements: Stronger CAPTCHA solutions (like hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile) during the signup process.
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Offline
- Site Admin
- Posts: 6327
- Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:20 am
Re: Forum hack
Added one.
Not make sense, since bots rarely write right away.Post Restrictions for New Accounts
Email services not work on SF. Communications with third-party sites also.Email Verification / Captcha Enhancements
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Offline
- Site Admin
- Posts: 6327
- Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:20 am
Re: Forum hack
Diamen
Good idea
, but SF hasn't provided direct access to the phpMyAdmin for a long time (maybe it will change in the future). The project owner creates a request to SF support to receive an access link.
Good idea
, but SF hasn't provided direct access to the phpMyAdmin for a long time (maybe it will change in the future). The project owner creates a request to SF support to receive an access link.