CVE-2016-10033

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Summary

CVECVE-2016-10033
StatePUBLISHED
Assignermitre
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2016-12-30 19:59:00 UTC
Updated2026-04-21 16:27:03 UTC
DescriptionThe 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.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.8 CRITICAL from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS: 0.944650000 probability, percentile 0.999960000 (date 2026-04-22)

CISA KEV: Listed on 2025-07-07; due 2025-07-28; ransomware use Unknown

Problem Types: CWE-88 | n/a | CWE-88 CWE-88 Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary9.8CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1ADPDECLARED9.8CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0Secondary9.8CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
2.0[email protected]Primary7.5AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector
Network
Access Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

VendorPHP
ProductPHPMailer
NamePHPMailer Command Injection Vulnerability
Required ActionApply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
NotesThis vulnerability could affect an open-source component, third-party library, protocol, or proprietary implementation that could be used by different products. For more information, please see: https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.18 ; https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5f37-gxvh-23v6 ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-10033

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Joomla Joomla! All All All All
Application Phpmailer Project Phpmailer All All All All
Application Wordpress Wordpress All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Na N/a affected n/a Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
Vanilla Forums < 2.3 - Remote Code Execution - PHP remote Exploit af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10033-Vuln af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 legalhackers.com Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
PHPMailer Sendmail Argument Injection ≈ Packet Storm af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 packetstormsecurity.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
SecurityFocus af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
PHPMailer < 5.2.20 / SwiftMailer < 5.4.5-DEV / Zend Framework / zend-mail < 2.4.11 - 'AIO' 'PwnScriptum' Remote Code Execution - PHP webapps Exploit af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
PHPMailer CVE-2016-10033 Remote Code Execution Vulnerability af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com Broken Link, Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
PHPMailer Input Validation Flaw Lets Remote Users Execute Arbitrary Code on the Target System - SecurityTracker af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securitytracker.com Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
PHPMailer < 5.2.18 - Remote Code Execution (Python) - PHP webapps Exploit af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
CVE-2016-10033 PHPMailer Sendmail Argument Injection | Rapid7 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.rapid7.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory
PHPMailer < 5.2.20 - Remote Code Execution af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Release PHPMailer 5.2.18 · PHPMailer/PHPMailer · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch, Vendor Advisory
www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 www.cisa.gov US Government Resource
WordPress Plugin PHPMailer 4.6 - Host Header Command Injection (Metasploit) - PHP remote Exploit af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
PHPMailer < 5.2.18 - Remote Code Execution (PHP) af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
PHPMailer < 5.2.18 - Remote Code Execution (Bash) af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
PHPMailer < 5.2.20 with Exim MTA - Remote Code Execution - PHP webapps Exploit af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Full Disclosure: PHPMailer < 5.2.18 Remote Code Execution [CVE-2016-10033] af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 seclists.org Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
WordPress 4.6 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
[20161205] - PHPMailer Security Advisory af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 developer.joomla.org Third Party Advisory
PHPMailer Remote Code Execution ≈ Packet Storm af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 packetstormsecurity.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
About the CVE 2016 10033 and CVE 2016 10045 vulnerabilities · PHPMailer/PHPMailer Wiki · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch, Vendor Advisory
PHPmailer 3rd party library -- DRUPAL-SA-PSA-2016-004 | Drupal.org af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.drupal.org Third Party Advisory
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog CISA www.cisa.gov kev

Additional Advisory Data

SourceTimeEvent
ADP2025-07-07T00:00:00.000ZCVE-2016-10033 added to CISA KEV

Legacy QID Mappings

  • 199517 Ubuntu Security Notification for PHPMailer Vulnerabilities (USN-5956-1)
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