CVE-2017-15806 — zetacomponents/mail
HIGHCVE-2017-15806 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Code Injection vulnerability in zetacomponents/mail. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for zetacomponents/mail — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Zeta Components Mail Arbitrary code execution via a crafted email address
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2017-15806 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 376,715 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
zetacomponents/mailReal-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 send function in the ezcMailMtaTransport class in Zeta Components Mail before 1.8.2 does not properly restrict the set of characters used in the ezcMail returnPath property, which might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted email address, as demonstrated by one containing "-X/path/to/wwwroot/file.php."
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | zetacomponents/mail | all versions | 1.8.2composer require zetacomponents/mail:^1.8.2 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Zeta Components Mail 1.8.1 - Remote Code Execution
by MalwareBenchmark · Nov 16, 2017
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for zetacomponents/mail, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update zetacomponents/mail to 1.8.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-15806 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.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2017-15806 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2017-15806. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2017-15806 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2017-15806 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.