CVE-2016-10033

WordPress Core 4.6 - Remote Code Execution

Severity Score

9.8

*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

*KEV

Decision

*SSVC

Descriptions

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.

La función mailSend en el transporte isMail en PHPMailer en versiones anteriores a 5.2.18 podrían permitir a atacantes remotos pasar parámetros extra al comando mail y consecuentemente ejecutar código arbitrario a través de una \" (barra invertida comillas dobles) en una propiedad Sender manipulada.

Dawid Golunski discovered that PHPMailer was not properly escaping user input data used as arguments to functions executed by the system shell. An attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 ESM. It was discovered that PHPMailer was not properly escaping characters in certain fields of the code_generator.php example code. An attacker could possibly use this issue to conduct cross-site scripting attacks. This issue was only fixed in Ubuntu 16.04 ESM and Ubuntu 18.04 ESM.

*Credits: N/A

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

Partial

Integrity

Partial

Availability

Partial

* Common Vulnerability Scoring System

SSVC

Decision:-

Exploitation

Automatable

Tech. Impact

* Organization's Worst-case Scenario

Timeline

2016-12-22 CVE Reserved
2016-12-26 CVE Published
2016-12-26 First Exploit
2024-08-06 CVE Updated
2025-03-30 EPSS Updated
---------- Exploited in Wild
---------- KEV Due Date

CWE

CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')

CAPEC

References (48)

URL	Tag	Source
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539963/100/0/threaded	Broken Link
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533	Broken Link
https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.html	Third Party Advisory
https://www.drupal.org/psa-2016-004	Third Party Advisory
https://exploitbox.io/vuln/WordPress-Exploit-4-6-RCE-CODE-EXEC-CVE-2016-10033.html
http://www.exim.org/exim-html-current/doc/html/spec_html/ch-string_expansions.html
https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/core.html#httpprotocoloptions

URL	Date	SRC
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/142486	2017-05-12
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/140283	2016-12-27
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/140286	2016-12-28
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/142390	2017-05-05
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/142547	2017-05-17
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/140349	2017-01-03
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/140291	2016-12-29
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/140280	2016-12-26
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/140350	2017-01-04
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41962	2024-08-06
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42024	2024-08-06
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41996	2024-08-06
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40974	2024-08-06
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221	2024-08-06
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40970	2024-08-06
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40968	2024-08-06
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40969	2024-08-06
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986	2024-08-06
https://github.com/opsxcq/exploit-CVE-2016-10033	2019-10-13
https://github.com/GeneralTesler/CVE-2016-10033	2017-05-10
https://github.com/chipironcin/CVE-2016-10033	2017-06-12
https://github.com/0x00-0x00/CVE-2016-10033	2018-02-09
https://github.com/ElnurBDa/CVE-2016-10033	2024-05-16
https://github.com/Bajunan/CVE-2016-10033	2017-05-19
https://github.com/j4k0m/CVE-2016-10033	2021-08-31
https://github.com/Astrowmist/POC-CVE-2016-10033	2024-06-06
https://github.com/zeeshanbhattined/exploit-CVE-2016-10033	2019-10-13
https://github.com/liusec/WP-CVE-2016-10033	2017-07-22
https://github.com/Zenexer/safeshell	2020-03-26
https://github.com/pedro823/cve-2016-10033-45	2018-09-29
https://github.com/awidardi/opsxcq-cve-2016-10033	2018-12-06
https://github.com/cved-sources/cve-2016-10033	2021-04-15
https://github.com/eb613819/CTF_CVE-2016-10033	2022-12-09
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140291/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html	2024-08-06
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.html	2024-08-06
http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injection	2024-08-06
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95108	2024-08-06
https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10033-Vuln.html	2024-08-06

URL	Date	SRC
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/78	2024-02-14
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.18	2024-02-14
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilities	2024-02-14

URL	Date	SRC

Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions

Vendor		Product				Version		Other		Status
Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status	<-- -->	Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status
Phpmailer Project Search vendor "Phpmailer Project"		Phpmailer Search vendor "Phpmailer Project" for product "Phpmailer"				< 5.2.18 Search vendor "Phpmailer Project" for product "Phpmailer" and version " < 5.2.18"		-		Affected
Wordpress Search vendor "Wordpress"		Wordpress Search vendor "Wordpress" for product "Wordpress"				<= 4.7 Search vendor "Wordpress" for product "Wordpress" and version " <= 4.7"		-		Affected
Joomla Search vendor "Joomla"		Joomla\! Search vendor "Joomla" for product "Joomla\!"				>= 1.5.0 <= 3.6.5 Search vendor "Joomla" for product "Joomla\!" and version " >= 1.5.0 <= 3.6.5"		-		Affected