CVE-2026-38739: Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy SQL Injection Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-xg9x-h37w-h3r3
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CVSS 7.1
CWE-89
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-38739 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.1) sql injection vulnerability (CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')) affecting Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy libraries in the Packagist ecosystem. The issue involves ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy has a sql injection in dfscleanup. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-38739 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-38739
GHSA Identifier GHSA-xg9x-h37w-h3r3
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.1
CWE Classification CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
Affected Product Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy
Package Ecosystem Packagist
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2026-38739

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

ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy fixed: Latest secure release 
Upgrade ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy to Latest secure release
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 ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2026-38739, inspect your project dependencies for Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy:

inspect dependencies for ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), 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-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection'), where the product constructs all or part of an sql command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended sql command when it is sent to a downstream component. without sufficient removal or quoting of sql syntax in user-controllable inputs, the generated sql query can cause those inputs to be interpreted as sql instead of ordinary user data. In Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy, 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

NB: All tags and branches in this repository are past their end of life, so the vulnerability will not be fixed. The advisory is posted on the request of the researcher, for the information of anyone who might still use this software. ### Impact There is a security vulnerability in eZ Publish Legacy, affecting the dfscleanup.php script and the `_getFileList` function of the `eZDFSFileHandlerMySQLiBackend` class (kernel/private/classes/clusterfilehandlers/dfsbackends/mysqli.php). The vulnerability allows an attacker with local shell access and sufficient privileges to run dfscleanup.php to perform a union-based SQL injection against the eZ Publish MySQL database, potentially exposing sensitive data such as user credentials. It is known to affect the branch 2019.03, and it may well affect other branches. ### Credit The issue was found and reported by security auditor Timothé Ridel from Advens: https://www.advens.com/ ### Patches None, the software is past its end of life. ### Workarounds None. ### Resources - Report by Advens: https://github.com/Goaterino/ezpublish-legacy-lab/blob/main/SQL%20injection%20and%20arbitrary%20file%20deletion%20in%20dfscleanup.md

CVE-2026-38739 Affected Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy
 Packagist
2019.03
All 1 versions
2019.03
None specified

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy/security/advisories/GHSA-xg9x-h37w-h3r3
Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-38739?
CVE-2026-38739 is a security vulnerability in Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy involving ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy has a SQL injection in dfscleanup under CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection').
Which Ezsystems/ezpublish legacy versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy.
What version fixes CVE-2026-38739?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy affected?
Yes, ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-38739?
CVE-2026-38739 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-38739?
CVE-2026-38739 is classified under CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') (The product constructs all or part of an SQL command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended SQL command when it is sent to a downstream component. Without sufficient removal or quoting of SQL syntax in user-controllable inputs, the generated SQL query can cause those inputs to be interpreted as SQL instead of ordinary user data.).
How can I check Packagist dependencies for CVE-2026-38739?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy'. 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-xg9x-h37w-h3r3",
  "modified" : "2026-05-29T19:07:38Z",
  "published" : "2026-05-29T19:07:38Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-38739" ],
  "summary" : "ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy has a SQL injection in dfscleanup",
  "details" : "NB: All tags and branches in this repository are past their end of life, so the vulnerability will not be fixed. The advisory is posted on the request of the researcher, for the information of anyone who might still use this software.\n\n### Impact\nThere is a security vulnerability in eZ Publish Legacy, affecting the dfscleanup.php script and the `_getFileList` function of the `eZDFSFileHandlerMySQLiBackend` class (kernel/private/classes/clusterfilehandlers/dfsbackends/mysqli.php). The vulnerability allows an attacker with local shell access and sufficient privileges to run dfscleanup.php to perform a union-based SQL injection against the eZ Publish MySQL database, potentially exposing sensitive data such as user credentials.\n\nIt is known to affect the branch 2019.03, and it may well affect other branches.\n\n### Credit\nThe issue was found and reported by security auditor Timothé Ridel from Advens:\nhttps://www.advens.com/\n\n### Patches\nNone, the software is past its end of life.\n\n### Workarounds\nNone.\n\n### Resources\n- Report by Advens: https://github.com/Goaterino/ezpublish-legacy-lab/blob/main/SQL%20injection%20and%20arbitrary%20file%20deletion%20in%20dfscleanup.md",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy"
    },
    "versions" : [ "2019.03" ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy/security/advisories/GHSA-xg9x-h37w-h3r3"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ezsystems/ezpublish-legacy"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-89" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-05-29T19:07:38Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}