[KEV] Command Injection in Phpmailer (CVE-2016-10033)
Summary
Command injection in Phpmailer (CVE-2016-10033). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
The mailSend function in the isMail transport in PHPMailer before 5.2.18 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute arbitrary code via a " (backslash double quote) in a crafted Sender property.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities NVD GitHub Advisory CISA KEV
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2016-10033 has been found in Phpmailer.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Note: CISA has officially confirmed this is actively exploited in the wild. Treat it with elevated urgency.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Phpmailer CVE-2016-10033" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2016-10033 (Phpmailer) — CWE-77
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited, treat as top priority.
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-77) exists in Phpmailer.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Phpmailer.
Severity: High. Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited in the wild, treat as top priority.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Phpmailer' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
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1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'Phpmailer' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
Phpmailerを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Consider incident declaration escalate
Notify SOC / on-callCISA KEV登録済 = 実環境で悪用が観測されている。侵入の兆候があればインシデント対応宣言、無くてもパッチ適用までWAF強化を最優先で。
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3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2016-10033 libphp-phpmailer Fixed in: 5.2.14+dfsg-2.1
References
- advisory NVD
- advisory securityfocus.com
- advisory securitytracker.com
- advisory developer.joomla.org
- advisory drupal.org
- patch seclists.org
- patch github.com
- patch github.com
- patch legalhackers.com
- patch exploit-db.com
- patch exploit-db.com
- report packetstormsecurity.com
- report packetstormsecurity.com
- report rapid7.com
- report securityfocus.com
- report exploit-db.com
- report exploit-db.com
- report exploit-db.com
- report exploit-db.com
- report exploit-db.com
- report exploit-db.com
- report exploit-db.com
- web cisa.gov