CVE-2016-10033
Published 2016-12-30 · Updated 2026-06-17 · Source cve@mitre.org
Summary
CVE-2016-10033 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) vulnerability in PHP PHPMailer. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on July 7, 2025, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed; US federal agencies had to remediate it by July 28, 2025. CISA does not currently list it as used in ransomware campaigns. PHP has 3 vulnerabilities in the KEV catalog, 1 of them linked to ransomware.
All 3 known-exploited PHP vulnerabilities →Description
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.
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CISA Known-Exploited Vulnerability
Product: PHP — PHPMailer
Name: PHPMailer Command Injection Vulnerability
Date added: 2025-07-07 · Due: 2025-07-28
Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140291/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Argument-Injection.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/78
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_injection
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539963/100/0/threaded
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95108
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037533
- https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.html

