SB2016122601 - Remote code execution in PHPMailer
Published: December 26, 2016 Updated: July 7, 2025
Security Bulletin ID
SB2016122601
Severity
High
Patch available
YES
Number of vulnerabilities
1
Exploitation vector
Remote access
Highest impact
Code execution
Breakdown by Severity
- Low
- Medium
- High
- Critical
Description
This security bulletin contains information about 1 security vulnerability.
1) Remote code injection (CVE-ID: CVE-2016-10033)
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.
The vulnerability exists due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied input passed via specially crafted “From” address to mailSend() function. A remote attacker can use backslashed double quote character (e.g. \") to pass additional commands to original mail command and execute them with privileges of the current web server user.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may result in system compromise.
Remediation
Install update from vendor's website.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140291/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/78
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/archive/1/539963/100/0/threaded
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95108
- https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.html
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.18
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilit...
- https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10033-Vuln.html
- https://www.drupal.org/psa-2016-004
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40968/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40970/