CVE-2015-8476: Phpmailer/phpmailer SMTP Injection Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-738m-f33v-qc2r
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CWE-20
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2015-8476 is a LOW smtp injection vulnerability (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) affecting Phpmailer/phpmailer libraries in the Packagist ecosystem. The issue involves smtp injection in phpmailer. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 5.2.14.

CVE-2015-8476 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2015-8476
GHSA Identifier GHSA-738m-f33v-qc2r
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
Affected Product Phpmailer/phpmailer
Package Ecosystem Packagist
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2015-8476

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Phpmailer/phpmailer dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

phpmailer/phpmailer fixed: 5.2.14 
Upgrade phpmailer/phpmailer to 5.2.14
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for phpmailer/phpmailer

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2015-8476, inspect your project dependencies for Phpmailer/phpmailer:

inspect dependencies for phpmailer/phpmailer

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Phpmailer/phpmailer in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 5.2.14), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation, where the product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. In Phpmailer/phpmailer, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact Attackers could inject arbitrary SMTP commands via by exploiting the fact that valid email addresses may contain line breaks, which are not handled correctly in some contexts. ### Patches Fixed in 5.2.14 in [this commit](https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/commit/6687a96a18b8f12148881e4ddde795ae477284b0). ### Workarounds Manually strip line breaks from email addresses before passing them to PHPMailer. ### References https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8476 ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open a private issue in [the PHPMailer project](https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer)

CVE-2015-8476 Affected Phpmailer/phpmailer Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
5.2.14
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
phpmailer/phpmailer
 Packagist
≥ 5.0.0
< 5.2.14
5.2.14

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/security/advisories/GHSA-738m-f33v-qc2r
NVD — CVE-2015-8476 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8476
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/commit/6687a96a18b8f12148881e4ddde795ae477284b0
Phpmailer/phpmailer Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/phpmailer/phpmailer/CVE-2015-8476.yaml
Phpmailer/phpmailer Release RELEASE
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.14
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-a... WEB
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2016-February/177130.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-a... WEB
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2016-February/177139.html
Phpmailer/phpmailer Security Information SECURITY
http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3416
Phpmailer/phpmailer Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/04/5
Phpmailer/phpmailer Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/05/1
Phpmailer/phpmailer Security Information SECURITY
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/78619

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2015-8476?
CVE-2015-8476 is a security vulnerability in Phpmailer/phpmailer involving SMTP Injection in PHPMailer under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation.
Which Phpmailer/phpmailer versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 5.2.14 across affected packages: phpmailer/phpmailer.
What version fixes CVE-2015-8476?
Upgrading to 5.2.14 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is phpmailer/phpmailer affected?
Yes, phpmailer/phpmailer is affected in releases prior to 5.2.14. Upgrade your dependency to 5.2.14 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2015-8476?
CVE-2015-8476 is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation (The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.).
How can I check Packagist dependencies for CVE-2015-8476?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for phpmailer/phpmailer'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-738m-f33v-qc2r",
  "modified" : "2020-03-05T21:57:18Z",
  "published" : "2020-03-05T22:09:19Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2015-8476" ],
  "summary" : "SMTP Injection in PHPMailer",
  "details" : "### Impact\nAttackers could inject arbitrary SMTP commands via by exploiting the fact that valid email addresses may contain line breaks, which are not handled correctly in some contexts.\n\n### Patches\nFixed in 5.2.14 in [this commit](https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/commit/6687a96a18b8f12148881e4ddde795ae477284b0).\n\n### Workarounds\nManually strip line breaks from email addresses before passing them to PHPMailer.\n\n### References\nhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8476\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open a private issue in [the PHPMailer project](https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer)",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "phpmailer/phpmailer"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "5.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "5.2.14"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/security/advisories/GHSA-738m-f33v-qc2r"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8476"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/commit/6687a96a18b8f12148881e4ddde795ae477284b0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/phpmailer/phpmailer/CVE-2015-8476.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.14"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2016-February/177130.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2016-February/177139.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3416"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/04/5"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/05/1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/78619"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20" ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-03-05T21:57:18Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}