CVE-2016-10045 EXPLOIT
9.8
CRITICAL · CVSS 3.1 · EPSS 97.7% (pctl 100)
Patch early
A public exploit exists.
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.
Scoring
| CVSS | 9.8 (CRITICAL, v3.1) |
|---|---|
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| EPSS | 97.74% — more likely to be exploited than 100% of all CVEs |
| Weakness | CWE-77 |
| On CISA KEV | no |
| Public exploit | yes |
| Published | 2016-12-30 |
| Last modified | 2026-06-17 |
Affected (3)
| Vendor | Product |
|---|---|
| joomla | joomla\! |
| phpmailer project | phpmailer |
| wordpress | wordpress |
Public exploits
| Source | Title | Date |
|---|---|---|
| exploit-db | PHPMailer < 5.2.20 with Exim MTA - Remote Code Execution | 2017-06-21 |
| exploit-db | PHPMailer < 5.2.20 / SwiftMailer < 5.4.5-DEV / Zend Framework / zend-mail < 2.4.11 - 'AIO' 'PwnScriptum' Remote Code Execution | 2017-01-02 |
| exploit-db | PHPMailer < 5.2.20 - Remote Code Execution | 2016-12-27 |
References
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/28/1
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/81
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injection
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539967/100/0/threaded
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533
- https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.html
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.20
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilities
- https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.html
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221/
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/28/1
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/81
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injection
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