GHSA-534c-hcr7-67jg is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) remote code execution vulnerability in kimai/kimai. A fix is available for kimai/kimai — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Kimai has an XXE Leading to Local File Read
Real-World Exposure
kimai/kimaiReal-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
Summary
Kimai uses PHPSpreadsheet for importing and exporting invoices. Recently, a CVE was identified in PHPSpreadsheet, which could lead to an XXE vulnerability.
Details
Exploitation requires an Administrator account, allowing the upload of an XLSX template containing the payload. The vulnerability is triggered by the following code snippet:
// https://github.com/kimai/kimai/blob/b1903ba18359be16dd32ea9c40377c486498f082/src/Invoice/Renderer/AbstractSpreadsheetRenderer.php#L41
public function render(InvoiceDocument $document, InvoiceModel $model): Response
{
$spreadsheet = IOFactory::load($document->getFilename());
$worksheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();
$entries = $model->getCalculator()->getEntries();
$sheetReplacer = $model->toArray();
$invoiceItemCount = \count($entries);
if ($invoiceItemCount > 1) {
$this->addTemplateRows($worksheet, $invoiceItemCount);
}
}
The IOFactory::load function utilizes simplexml_load_string, which has previously been demonstrated to be vulnerable to XXE attacks.
While this is not directly an XXE in Kimai, it does however impact the latest stable version.
PoC
By uploading a malicious XLSX template, the payload will be triggered every time an invoice is generated.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding='UTF-7' standalone="yes"?>
+ADw-!DOCTYPE foo [ <!ENTITY % xxe SYSTEM "php://filter/......." > %xxe;]>.....
For a better a visibility, I will upload both a:
- Malicious template sample for testing
- An exported invoice, showing the contents of target file during the export.
Impact
Local File Read / RCE in edge cases where phar:// can be utilized with gadget chains .
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | kimai/kimai | all versions | 2.21.0composer require kimai/kimai:^2.21.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for kimai/kimai, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update kimai/kimai to 2.21.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-534c-hcr7-67jg 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 GHSA-534c-hcr7-67jg can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-534c-hcr7-67jg. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-534c-hcr7-67jg in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-534c-hcr7-67jg across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.