CVE-2024-45293

HIGH NUCLEI

PHPSpreadsheet <1.29.1, >=2.2.0 <2.3.0 - XML External Entity Injection via Whitespace Bypass

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

CVE-2024-45293 has a Nuclei detection template available — see the Nuclei card below for the Shodan/FOFA recon queries.

Description

PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. The security scanner responsible for preventing XXE attacks in the XLSX reader can be bypassed by slightly modifying the XML structure, utilizing white-spaces. On servers that allow users to upload their own Excel (XLSX) sheets, Server files and sensitive information can be disclosed by providing a crafted sheet. The security scan function in src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php contains a flawed XML encoding check to retrieve the input file's XML encoding in the toUtf8 function. The function searches for the XML encoding through a defined regex which looks for `encoding="*"` and/or `encoding='*'`, if not found, it defaults to the UTF-8 encoding which bypasses the conversion logic. This logic can be used to pass a UTF-7 encoded XXE payload, by utilizing a whitespace before or after the = in the attribute definition. Sensitive information disclosure through the XXE on sites that allow users to upload their own excel spreadsheets, and parse them using PHPSpreadsheet's Excel parser. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.1, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Nuclei Templates (1)

TablePress < 2.4.3 - XXE Injection
HIGHVERIFIEDby iamnoooob,ritikchaddha
FOFA: body="/wp-content/plugins/tablepress"

References (1)

Core 1
Core References

Scores

CVSS v3 7.5
EPSS 0.0286
EPSS Percentile 84.9%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation poc
Automatable yes
Technical Impact partial

Details

CWE
CWE-611
Status published
Products (3)
phpoffice/phpexcel 0Packagist
phpoffice/phpspreadsheet < 1.29.1
phpoffice/phpspreadsheet 2.2.0 - 2.3.0Packagist
Published Oct 07, 2024
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026