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    CVE-2016-10045

    The isMail transport in PHPMailer before 5.2.20 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute arbitrary code by leveraging improper interaction between the escapeshellarg function and internal escaping performed in the mail function in PHP. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incorrect fix for CVE-2016-10033.

    Published:Dec 30, 2016
    Last Modified:Apr 12, 2025
    EPS:Dec 30, 2016
    EPSS Score:0.93559
    CVSS Score:9.8

    Affected Products

    Vendor
    Joomla
    Product
    Joomla\!
    Vendor
    Phpmailer Project
    Product
    Phpmailer
    Vendor
    Wordpress
    Product
    Wordpress

    Exploits

    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.htmlhttp://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injectionhttp://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.htmlhttps://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.htmlhttp://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injectionhttp://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.htmlhttps://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221

    Related CVEs

    CVE-2026-71573 (CVSS 6.9) — Joomla! Core - [20260802] - Improper CORS origin validation in Joomla 4.0.0-5.4.7, 6.0.0-6.1.2 - An improper i…
    CVE-2026-72531 (CVSS 5.1) — Joomla! Core - [20260804] - Improper ACL checks for custom fields webservice endpoints in Joomla 4.0.0-5.4.7, …
    CVE-2026-73336 (CVSS 5.1) — Joomla! Core - [20260806] - XSS through schema.org outputs in Joomla 5.1.0-5.4.7, 6.0.0-6.1.2 - Improper escap…
    CVE-2026-73372 (CVSS 5.1) — Joomla! Core - [20260809] - Improper ACL checks when injection schema.org contact data in Joomla 5.1.0-5.4.7 a…
    CVE-2026-71572 (CVSS 4.8) — Joomla! Core - [20260801] - Response header injection in download views in Joomla 3.0.0-5.4.7, 6.0.0-6.1.2 - L…
    CVE-2026-73337 (CVSS 8.2) — Joomla! Core - [20260807] - MFA Authentication Bypass in Joomla 4.0.0-5.4.7 and 6.0.0-6.1.2 - Insufficient sta…
    CVE-2026-73371 (CVSS 5.1) — Joomla! Core - [20260808] - Improper ACL checks for batch copy actions in Joomla 4.0.0-5.4.7, 6.0.0-6.1.2 - An…
    CVE-2026-72532 (CVSS 5.1) — Joomla! Core - [20260806] - Improper ACL checks for category webservice endpoints in Joomla 4.0.0-5.4.7, 6.0.0…
    CVE-2026-73373 (CVSS 8.9) — Joomla! Core - [20260810] - Unrestricted uploads of SHTML files in Joomla 1.0.0-5.4.7, 6.0.0-6.1.2 - The defau…
    CVE-2026-71574 (CVSS 8.5) — Joomla! Core - [20260803] - Inconsistent ACL checks for mutating webservice endpoints in Joomla 4.0.0-5.4.7, 6…

    References

    http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/28/1
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.html
    http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/81
    http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injection
    http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539967/100/0/threaded
    http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130
    http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533
    https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.html
    https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.20
    https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilities
    https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.html
    https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/
    https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986/
    https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221/
    http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/28/1
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.html
    http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/81
    http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injection
    http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539967/100/0/threaded
    http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95130
    http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533
    https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.html
    https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.20
    https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilities
    https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10045-Vuln-Patch-Bypass.html
    https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969/
    https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986/
    https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221/

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High