Remote code execution in PHPMailer

1) Object injection attack

EUVDB-ID: #VU16334

Risk: High

CVSSv4.0: 8.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Amber]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-19296

CWE-ID: CWE-20 - Improper input validation

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.

The vulnerability exists due to object injection attack. A remote unauthenticated attacker can send a specially crafted request, conduct object injection attack and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in complete compromise of vulnerable system.

Mitigation

The vulnerability has been fixed in the versions 5.2.27, 6.0.6.

Vulnerable software versions

PHPMailer: 5.2.1 - 6.0.5

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:a:phpmailer_sourceforge_net:phpmailer:5.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:phpmailer_sourceforge_net:phpmailer:5.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:phpmailer_sourceforge_net:phpmailer:5.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.27
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v6.0.6

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.