How severe is GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q?

No CVSS score has been assigned to GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q?

GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q affects the following packages: phpmailer/phpmailer (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q?

Update phpmailer/phpmailer to 5.2.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpmailer/phpmailer. 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-v5c9-mmw9-829q 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-v5c9-mmw9-829q?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q 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-v5c9-mmw9-829q actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 4 known exploit references for GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q, including 2 documented proof-of-concept exploits on Exploit-DB and 2 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q?

GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 54.0%, placing it in the 99th 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. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q?

GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q is classified as Code Injection (CWE-94). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q was published on May 14, 2022 and was last updated on December 5, 2024. 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-v5c9-mmw9-829q

PHPMailer susceptible to arbitrary code execution

Also known asCVE-2008-5619

Published

May 14, 2022

Updated

Dec 5, 2024

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

4 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

54.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

High Risk99th percentile-23.69%

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

1 pkg affected

🐘phpmailer/phpmailer

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

html2text.php in Chuggnutt HTML to Text Converter, as used in PHPMailer before 5.2.10, RoundCube Webmail (roundcubemail) 0.2-1.alpha and 0.2-3.beta, Mahara, and AtMail Open 1.03, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted input that is processed by the preg_replace function with the eval switch.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`phpmailer/phpmailer`	all versions	5.2.10

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

EDB-7553webappsphp✓ Verified

Roundcube Webmail 0.2b - Remote Code Execution

by Hunger · Dec 22, 2008

Exploit-DB Source

EDB-7549webappsphp✓ Verified

Roundcube Webmail 0.2-3 Beta - Code Execution

by Jacobo Avariento · Dec 22, 2008

Exploit-DB Source

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpmailer/phpmailer. 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 phpmailer/phpmailer to 5.2.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q 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-v5c9-mmw9-829q 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-v5c9-mmw9-829q. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-v5c9-mmw9-829q 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