CVE-2008-5619: Phpmailer/phpmailer PHPMailer Susceptible To Arbitrary Code Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q
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CWE-94
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2008-5619 is a HIGH phpmailer susceptible to arbitrary code vulnerability (CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')) affecting Phpmailer/phpmailer libraries in the Packagist ecosystem. The issue involves phpmailer susceptible to arbitrary code execution. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 5.2.10.

CVE-2008-5619 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2008-5619
GHSA Identifier GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Affected Product Phpmailer/phpmailer
Package Ecosystem Packagist
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2008-5619

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: 5.2.10 
Upgrade phpmailer/phpmailer to 5.2.10
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-2008-5619, 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 5.2.10), 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-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection'), where the product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment. 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

html2text.php in Chuggnutt HTML to Text Converter, as used in PHPMailer before 5.2.10, RoundCube Webmail (roundcubemail) 0.2-1.alpha and 0.2-3.beta, Mahara, and AtMail Open 1.03, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted input that is processed by the preg_replace function with the eval switch.

CVE-2008-5619 Affected Phpmailer/phpmailer Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
5.2.10
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
phpmailer/phpmailer
 Packagist
< 5.2.10
5.2.10

References

NVD — CVE-2008-5619 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5619
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/commit/8beacc646acb67c995aea10ac5585970efc7355a
Phpmailer/phpmailer Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer
www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7549 WEB
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7549
www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7553 WEB
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7553
www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-pac... WEB
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-December/msg00783.html
www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-pac... WEB
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-December/msg00802.html
mahara.org/interaction/forum/t... WEB
http://mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=533
osvdb.org/53893 WEB
http://osvdb.org/53893
sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php WEB
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=898542
trac.roundcube.net/changeset/2148 WEB
http://trac.roundcube.net/changeset/2148
trac.roundcube.net/ticket/1485618 WEB
http://trac.roundcube.net/ticket/1485618
Phpmailer/phpmailer Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/12/12/1

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2008-5619?
CVE-2008-5619 is a security vulnerability in Phpmailer/phpmailer involving PHPMailer susceptible to arbitrary code execution under CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection').
Which Phpmailer/phpmailer versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 5.2.10 across affected packages: phpmailer/phpmailer.
What version fixes CVE-2008-5619?
Upgrading to 5.2.10 (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 5.2.10. Upgrade your dependency to 5.2.10 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2008-5619?
CVE-2008-5619 is classified under CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') (The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment.).
How can I check Packagist dependencies for CVE-2008-5619?
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-v5c9-mmw9-829q",
  "modified" : "2022-06-17T21:23:30Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-14T02:39:43Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2008-5619" ],
  "summary" : "PHPMailer susceptible to arbitrary code execution",
  "details" : "html2text.php in Chuggnutt HTML to Text Converter, as used in PHPMailer before 5.2.10, RoundCube Webmail (roundcubemail) 0.2-1.alpha and 0.2-3.beta, Mahara, and AtMail Open 1.03, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted input that is processed by the preg_replace function with the eval switch.",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "phpmailer/phpmailer"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "5.2.10"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
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  }, {
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7549"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7553"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-December/msg00783.html"
  }, {
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  }, {
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  }, {
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=898542"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://trac.roundcube.net/changeset/2148"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/12/12/1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-94" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-06-17T21:23:30Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2008-12-17T02:30:00Z"
  }
}