CVE-2016-10045
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…
Does this matter?
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 97.7%, higher than 100% of all known CVEs. Patch or mitigate before the next change window.
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.
- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 97.74% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- 3 in Exploit-DB · first 27 December 2016
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-77
- Affected
- phpmailer project/phpmailer · wordpress/wordpress · joomla/joomla\!
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 97.7% since 26 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
Public exploits (3)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
| EDB-ID | Title | Type | Published | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDB-42221source ↗ | PHPMailer < 5.2.20 with Exim MTA - Remote Code Executionphp · phackt_ul | webapps | 21 June 2017 | no |
| EDB-40986source ↗ | PHPMailer < 5.2.20 / SwiftMailer < 5.4.5-DEV / Zend Framework / zend-mail < 2.4.11 - 'AIO' 'PwnScriptum' Remote Code Executionphp · Dawid Golunski | webapps | 2 January 2017 | no |
| EDB-40969source ↗ | PHPMailer < 5.2.20 - Remote Code Executionphp · Dawid Golunski | webapps | 27 December 2016 | no |
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
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.