Cross-site scripting in PHPMailer
Published 5 Mar 2020 · Updated 16 Feb 2024
Affected package
- Affected
- >=5.0.0 <5.2.24
- Fixed in
- 5.2.24
composer require phpmailer/phpmailer:^5.2.24Details
PHPMailer versions prior to 5.2.24 (released July 26th 2017) have an XSS vulnerability in one of the code examples, CVE-2017-11503. The code_generator.phps example did not filter user input prior to output. This file is distributed with a .phps extension, so it it not normally executable unless it is explicitly renamed, and the file is not included when PHPMailer is loaded through composer, so it is safe by default. There was also an undisclosed potential XSS vulnerability in the default exception handler (unused by default). Patches for both issues kindly provided by Patrick Monnerat of the Fedora Project.
Impact
PHPMailer 5.2.23 has XSS in the "From Email Address" and "To Email Address" fields of code_generator.php.
Patches
Fixed in 5.2.24
Workarounds
None.
References
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-11503
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open a private issue in the PHPMailer project
Is GHSA-58mj-pw57-4vm2 in any of your client repos?
Checking one package by hand is fine. Checking it across forty client projects is not. NPMscan reads the lockfiles in every GitHub repo you pick, finds each project with an affected phpmailer/phpmailer, and gives you the command that fixes it.
References
- Linkgithub.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/security/advisories/GHSA-58mj-pw57-4vm2
- Advisorynvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-11503
- Linkcxsecurity.com/issue/WLB-2017060181
- Linkgithub.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/phpmailer/phpmailer/CVE-2017-11503.yaml
- Linkgithub.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.24
- Linkpacketstormsecurity.com/files/143138/phpmailer-xss.txt
- Linkwww.securityfocus.com/bid/99293
- Linkwww.securitytracker.com/id/1039026
Advisory data from OSV.dev (opens OSV.dev in a new tab), refreshed daily.