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PunBB Forums → PunBB 1.3 troubleshooting → Spam - Spammer related issues
IP Information for 88.119.xxx.xx
IP Location: Lithuania Lithuania Vilnius Uab Transteleservis
What vulnerability in pun standard installation are spammers taking advantage of?
Got a registration from the above - not a post, but entered the list of users.... with viagra something in email....
Thx.
Need more clarity:
- you have a vanilla standard PunBB 1.3x install;
- you got a successful registration from a user with the above IP address
- email address of registrant had *viagra in it?
Huh?
Not sure what you are trying to say.
it's spambots for sure... had it on other forums aswell. they register but can't post. but they're inflating numbers of users.
i want to know what they are exploiting - there must be a deficiency somewhere
i installed anti-spam now - see if that stops it
vanilla yes. (before that user registered when i decided to change)
They aren't exploiting anything. They are merely submitting a registration.
once again v. helpful. 
once again v. helpful.
The initial question is itself thin on details. It reads to me as
"Someone registered on my forum, they can't post but they can register, they have the words viagra in their registration details, how could they register"
It would help if you explained how your board is setup. The plain vanilla install doesn't help either. To register on your site do they have to go through a captcha of some sort, do they have to be admion approved.................:rolleyes:
http://mypunbb.com/viewtopic.php?id=1&p=454
how is that possible
general question....
spambots love vanilla pun & flux - why
http://mypunbb.com/viewtopic.php?id=1&p=454
how is that possible
general question....spambots love vanilla pun & flux - why
Well if you go and sign up to the link you provided like I did, you will see that it doesn't need email verification nor does it require admin approval or uses a captcha deterant. If that website is what a vanilla install is and is how your running your forum it's no wonder your getting spam registrations.
I just signed up to one of your blue white test forums you put in show off. If this isn't the forum your talking about it, then provide a link. I was able to though, sign up and post test as a reply to one of your threads. It was all done without needing admin approval, email verification and no captcha deterant.
If this is how all your forums are set up its like having the keys in your car, motor running and door left wide open while parked in a crime hotspot all the while hoping the car doesn't get stolen while your away.
I just signed up also to your .info one. It also doesn't appear to need admin approval or email verification. It does though use a captcha, which wouldn't be that hard at all to use a character recognition software to find out what the characters are seeing as the numbers I had to enter were all solid on a white background, unlike some captchas you see that are not a solid character on a mixed coloured background.
I would personally use a wing ding font that displayed animals. It would make it harder for a bot to try and work out what an elephant or lion or tiger looked like.
cool feedback - yeah i was just trying to see what happens if one does what your regular new installer does...
you're obviously advanced user 
hehe
thx for helpful inputs...
EDIT: on production sites I'd obviously use email verification and basic captcha or other together....
i've not seen bots being able to post to those forums....
EDIT 2: oh and if you see any other obvious security related issue to anything regarding that site I'm more than happy to hear about it....
http://recaptcha.net/plugins/php/
this captcha would be cool think to implement ...
once again v. helpful.
What were you expecting? There is no bot orientated deterrent on a plain install. What do you expect to happen? If you are going to ask stupid questions and post sarcastic responses at the obvious answer, don't ask the stupid question to start with.
haha nevermind. all's well that ends well.
That mypunbb.com forum is FluxBB anyhow - why are you posting here? 
That forum, infested as it is by spam, is quite an impressive demonstration of the bad spambot problem that is out there. 1200 'members' and 11500 replies in one thread alone by spambots, dozens of daily posts - cool 
.
And check out the impact on server resources: 'Generated in 17.349 seconds, 6 queries executed' for just loading the first page of the 'Announcement's thread. Ouch.
A list of the IP's that all those members registered from would be very useful to see, and to send over to http://www.stopforumspam.com.
I think connerhd must be keeping that site up as a honeypot. Otherwise he needs to do some serious housecleaning over there.
I posted it here because it reflects what I saw with one of mine before I locked it
I was getting one thread with all such posts aswell. Just in one forum one thread (not threat ). They don't seem to spam all forums across all categories.
I think connerhd must be keeping that site up as a honeypot. Otherwise he needs to do some serious housecleaning over there
that does make sense. honeypot thing.
but don't those spammers just use botnetworks - get you to download software crackz etc on a warez site - then leave a backdoor open when you run it...
then again it does always seem to be from ex-USSR that I get spammed like that.... at one point it was always with .ru email addies. As I was only adressing a local market in a foreign language I knew those were not real interest and just banned all adresses from that topleveldomain unfair as it is - effective it was.
but who knows - maybe it would help stopforumspam
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