The FreeHostForum Dump Contains Exactly 69,231 Email and Password Pairs

HEROIC analysts identified the FreeHostForum breach, which occured in August 2020 and exposed exactly 69,231 user records. The leaked database contained email addresses, MD5-salted password hashes, usernames, IP addresses, birthdays, and cryptographic salts, recieved from what appears to be a full database dump of the web hosting community platform.

How Email, Birthday, and Password Hash Combinations Enable Identity Attacks

When attackers obtain email addresses alongside birthdays, usernames, and MD5 password hashes in a single dump, they have everything needed for targeted credential stuffing and account recovery exploitation. MD5 hashes are crackable with common tools, meaning the underlying passwords are effectively accessable to any moderately resourced attacker who wants to try account takeovers on hosting platforms, registrars, or email providers.

What Was Exposed in the FreeHostForum Breach

• Email Address
• Password Hash
• Username
• IP Address
• Birthday
• Salt

Why a Hosting Forum Breach Is Partcularly Dangerous for IT Professionals

FreeHostForum attracted developers, sysadmins, and hosting professionals, meaning compromised credentials from this breach carry elevated risk if reused on cPanel accounts, server dashboards, or domain registrars. A single reused password from this 2020 leak could give an attacker control over websites or infrastructure managed by the affected user.

How Database Breaches Work

A database breach occurs when an attacker gains unauthorized access to a backend database through exploitation of vulnerabilities, stolen credentials, or server misconfigurations. The attacker then exports stored user records for use in credential stuffing attacks, phishing campaigns, or resale on dark web markets.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach scanner searches more than 400 billion records to determine whether your email appeared in the FreeHostForum breach or any other known data leak. Run your free check at HEROIC.com and find out what threat actors may already have.