{"id":"CVE-2016-10045","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2016-10045","generatedAt":"2026-10-27T17:56:33.983Z","title":"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…","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.","published":"2016-12-30T19:59:00.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T00:38:57.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"cve@mitre.org","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"severity":"CRITICAL","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-77"],"affected":["phpmailer project/phpmailer","wordpress/wordpress","joomla/joomla\\!"],"epss":{"score":0.97738,"percentile":0.99904,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":3,"verified":false,"firstPublished":"2016-12-27","source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[{"edbId":42221,"kind":"exploit","title":"PHPMailer < 5.2.20 with Exim MTA - Remote Code Execution","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/php/webapps/42221.py","file":"exploits/php/webapps/42221.py","published":"2017-06-21","added":"2017-06-21","updated":"2017-08-03","author":"phackt_ul","type":"webapps","platform":"php","port":null,"verified":false,"codes":["CVE-2016-10074","CVE-2016-10045","CVE-2016-10034","CVE-2016-10033"],"tags":null,"aliases":null,"applicationUrl":"http://www.exploit-db.comPHPMailer-5.2.17.zip","screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":null},{"edbId":40986,"kind":"exploit","title":"PHPMailer < 5.2.20 / SwiftMailer < 5.4.5-DEV / Zend Framework / zend-mail < 2.4.11 - 'AIO' 'PwnScriptum' Remote Code Execution","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/php/webapps/40986.py","file":"exploits/php/webapps/40986.py","published":"2017-01-02","added":"2017-01-02","updated":"2017-01-02","author":"Dawid Golunski","type":"webapps","platform":"php","port":null,"verified":false,"codes":["CVE-2016-10074","CVE-2016-10045","CVE-2016-10034","CVE-2016-10033"],"tags":null,"aliases":"PwnScriptum","applicationUrl":null,"screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":"https://legalhackers.com/videos/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-Vuln-CVE-2016-10033-PoC.html"},{"edbId":40969,"kind":"exploit","title":"PHPMailer < 5.2.20 - Remote Code Execution","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/php/webapps/40969.py","file":"exploits/php/webapps/40969.py","published":"2016-12-27","added":"2016-12-28","updated":"2016-12-28","author":"Dawid Golunski","type":"webapps","platform":"php","port":null,"verified":false,"codes":["CVE-2016-10045","CVE-2016-10033"],"tags":null,"aliases":null,"applicationUrl":"http://www.exploit-db.comPHPMailer-5.2.17.zip","screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":"https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.html"}]},"verdict":{"level":"urgent","text":"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."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/28/1","tags":["Mailing List","Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/81","tags":["Mailing List","Patch","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injection","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539967/100/0/threaded","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.html","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.20","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilities","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.html","tags":["Exploit","Patch","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986/","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221/","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/28/1","tags":["Mailing List","Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/81","tags":["Mailing List","Patch","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injection","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539967/100/0/threaded","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.html","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.20","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilities","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.html","tags":["Exploit","Patch","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986/","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221/","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-10045","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}