How severe is CVE-2016-2559?

CVE-2016-2559 has a CVSS score of 5.4/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2016-2559?

CVE-2016-2559 affects the following packages: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2016-2559?

Update phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin to 4.5.5.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-2559 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2016-2559 in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2016-2559 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Is CVE-2016-2559 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2016-2559 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2016-2559?

CVE-2016-2559 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.7%, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2016-2559?

CVE-2016-2559 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2016-2559 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2016-2559 was published on March 1, 2016 and was last updated on October 20, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2016-2559 — phpmyadmin

MEDIUMFix: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin@3a6a9a8

CVE-2016-2559 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin. A fix is available for phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin — see the affected versions and patch details below.

phpMyAdmin Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in SQL parser

Also known asGHSA-7rf8-9r8f-qf59

Published

Mar 1, 2016

Updated

Oct 20, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs77th percentile — riskier than 77% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

1 pkg affected

🐘phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin

Real-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

Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the format function in libraries/sql-parser/src/Utils/Error.php in the SQL parser in phpMyAdmin 4.5.x before 4.5.5.1 allows remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted query.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin`	≥ 4.5&&< 4.5.5.1	4.5.5.1`composer require phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin:^4.5.5.1`

Affected Products

1 product · 13 configurations

Application

phpmyadminphpmyadmin

10 versions

4.5.04.5.0.14.5.0.24.5.14.5.24.5.34.5.3.14.5.44.5.4.14.5.5

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin to 4.5.5.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-2559 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2016-2559 in your dependencies?

Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

5.4/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Raw vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CWE Classification

CWE-79Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Weaponization

No Nuclei template, Metasploit module or public proof-of-concept found.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

phpmyadmin

5.6/10

Code-Review0/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-ProtectionN/A

Assessed Nov 2, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Mar 1, 2016

Last updated

Oct 20, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2016-2559

GHSA-7rf8-9r8f-qf59

References

Advisoryphpmyadmin.net · PMASA 2016 10 Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2016 2559 Fixgithub.com · 3a6a9a807d99371ee126635e1a505fc1fe0df32c Weblists.fedoraproject.org Weblists.fedoraproject.org Webphpmyadmin.net · PMASA 2016 10 Packagegithub.com · composer

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is medium severity; 8 of 8 other CVEs affecting phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin are rated as high or higher (top: critical).

CVE-2025-24530CVE-2023-25727CVE-2020-22452CVE-2019-12922CVE-2020-26934CVE-2020-26935CVE-2020-10802CVE-2020-10803

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 20, 2026