CVE-2016-10045
Description
The isMail transport in PHPMailer before 5.2.20 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute arbitrary code by leveraging improper interaction between the escapeshellarg function and internal escaping performed in the mail function in PHP. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incorrect fix for CVE-2016-10033.
Official description from the CVE record, published by mitre. Copyright © 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. See /security/cve/legal for the CVE license. View the record on cve.org
Key data
EPSS
- Score
- 0.97738 (97.7% probability)
- Percentile
- 99.9%
- Scores of
- Nov 10, 2026
- Model
- v2026.06.15
References
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/140286/PHPMailer-Remote-Code-…
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/140350/PHPMailer-Sendmail-Arg…
- 42221 (exploit-db.com)exploit
- 40969 (exploit-db.com)exploit
- 20161228 PHPMailer < 5.2.20 Remote Code Execution PoC 0day Exploit (CVE-2016-10045) (Bypass of the CVE-2016-1033 patch) (securityfocus.com)mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20161228 Re: PHPMailer < 5.2.18 Remote Code Execution [updated advisory] [CVE-2016-10033] (openwall.com)mailing-list
- github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-1003…
- github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.20
- 40986 (exploit-db.com)exploit
- rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/multi/http/phpmailer_arg_inje…
- 95130 (securityfocus.com)vdb-entry
- legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-E…
- 20161227 PHPMailer < 5.2.20 Remote Code Execution PoC 0day Exploit (CVE-2016-10045) (Bypass of the CVE-2016-1033 patch) (seclists.org)mailing-list
- 1037533 (securitytracker.com)vdb-entry
- developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer…
Timeline
- ID reserved
- Record published
- Record last updated
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About CubePath
Data from the CVE Program (MITRE), CISA KEV and FIRST EPSS. CVSS is owned by FIRST and used by permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE, CISA or FIRST. Data as of Nov 10, 2026, 19:46 UTC. Sources and licenses