Know every vulnerabilitybefore it knows you.
DevGuard continuously monitors your dependencies and alerts you when CVEs like this one affect your stack — with real-time threat intelligence built for developers.
GHSA-7q44-r25x-wm4q
No affected components available
PHPMailer 6.4.1 contains a possible remote code execution vulnerability through the $lang_path parameter of the setLanguage() method. If the $lang_path parameter is passed unfiltered from user input, it can be set to a UNC path, and if an attacker is also able to create a remote mount on the server that the UNC path points to, a script file under their control may be executed.
Impact
Arbitrary code may be run by a remote attacker under the web server or PHP process running on Window hosts.
Patches
Mitigated in PHPMailer 6.5.0 by no longer treating translation files as PHP code, but by parsing their text content directly. This approach avoids the possibility of executing unknown code while retaining backward compatibility. This isn't ideal, so the current translation format is deprecated and will be replaced in the next major release.
Workarounds
Any of:
- Ensure that calling code does not pass unfiltered user-supplied data to the
$lang_pathparameter of thesetLanguage()method. - Block or filter the use of unknown UNC paths in this parameter (or altogether).
- Ensure that unauthorised users do not have the ability to read from unknown remote servers via UNC paths.
- Run on an OS that does not support UNC paths
References
Reported by listensec.com via Tidelift.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in PHPMailer
- Email the maintainers
The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is difficult for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability and may require special conditions. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.
Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.
The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.
We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.
Browse More
Continuously monitor your dependencies and get alerted when vulnerabilities like this one affect your stack.
Checkout DevGuard