Description
The isMail transport in PHPMailer before 5.2.20 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute arbitrary code by leveraging improper interaction between the escapeshellarg function and internal escaping performed in the mail function in PHP. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incorrect fix for CVE-2016-10033.
Metrics
CVSS 3.1 9.8/10
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HWeakness enumeration
Affected software
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| n/a | n/a | n/a |
References
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/28/1Mailing List, Patch
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/81Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injectionExploit, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539967/100/0/threadedThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.htmlThird Party Advisory
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.20Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilitiesPatch, Vendor Advisory
- https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.htmlExploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986/Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221/Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/28/1Mailing List, Patch
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/81Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injectionExploit, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539967/100/0/threadedThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.htmlThird Party Advisory
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.20Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilitiesPatch, Vendor Advisory
- https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.htmlExploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986/Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221/Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Timeline
- Published
- Dec 30, 2016
- Last modified
- Jun 17, 2026
- NVD status
- Modified