How severe is CVE-2024-45293?

CVE-2024-45293 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-45293?

CVE-2024-45293 affects the following packages: phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist), phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist), phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist), phpoffice/phpexcel (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2024-45293?

Update phpoffice/phpspreadsheet to 2.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-45293 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2024-45293 in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpoffice/phpspreadsheet. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2024-45293 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2024-45293?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2024-45293 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2024-45293 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2024-45293 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-2024-45293?

CVE-2024-45293 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.9%, placing it in the 85th 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-2024-45293?

CVE-2024-45293 is classified as XML External Entity (XXE) (CWE-611). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2024-45293?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2024-45293, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2024-45293 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2024-45293 was published on October 7, 2024 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2024-45293: phpoffice/phpspreadsheet Information Disclosure…

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk85th percentile-68.77%

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.

Blast Radius

4 pkgs affected

🐘phpoffice/phpspreadsheet🐘phpoffice/phpspreadsheet🐘phpoffice/phpspreadsheet🐘phpoffice/phpexcel

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

PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. The security scanner responsible for preventing XXE attacks in the XLSX reader can be bypassed by slightly modifying the XML structure, utilizing white-spaces. On servers that allow users to upload their own Excel (XLSX) sheets, Server files and sensitive information can be disclosed by providing a crafted sheet. The security scan function in src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php contains a flawed XML encoding check to retrieve the input file's XML encoding in the toUtf8 function. The function searches for the XML encoding through a defined regex which looks for encoding="*" and/or encoding='*', if not found, it defaults to the UTF-8 encoding which bypasses the conversion logic. This logic can be used to pass a UTF-7 encoded XXE payload, by utilizing a whitespace before or after the = in the attribute definition. Sensitive information disclosure through the XXE on sites that allow users to upload their own excel spreadsheets, and parse them using PHPSpreadsheet's Excel parser. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.1, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Affected Packages

4 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`phpoffice/phpspreadsheet`	≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.3.0	2.3.0
🐘Packagist	`phpoffice/phpspreadsheet`	all versions	1.29.1
🐘Packagist	`phpoffice/phpspreadsheet`	≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.1.1	2.1.1
🐘Packagist	`phpoffice/phpexcel`	all versions	No fix

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpoffice/phpspreadsheet. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update phpoffice/phpspreadsheet to 2.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-45293 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2024-45293 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2024-45293. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. The security scanner responsible for preventing XXE attacks in the XLSX reader can be bypassed by slightly modifying the XML structure, utilizing white-spaces. On servers that allow users to upload their own Excel (XLSX) sheets, Server files and sensitive information can be disclosed by providing a crafted sheet. The security scan function in src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php contains a flawed XML encoding check to retrieve the input file's XML encoding in the toUtf8 function. The function searches

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2024-45293 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2024-45293 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVE-2024-45293