CVE-2011-1028 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in smarty/smarty. A fix is available for smarty/smarty — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Smarty3 Arbitrary PHP Code Execution
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
smarty/smartyReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The $smarty.template variable in Smarty3 allows attackers to possibly execute arbitrary PHP code via the sysplugins/smarty_internal_compile_private_special_variable.php file.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | smarty/smarty | all versions | 3.0.7composer require smarty/smarty:^3.0.7 |
Affected Products
debian linuxdebiansmartysmartyDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for smarty/smarty, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update smarty/smarty to 3.0.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2011-1028 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2011-1028 in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.