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GHSA-2xvx-368h-qcmv CVE-2023-4006

phpMyFAQ Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File vulnerability

Critical Packagist
Severity
8.8 / 10
Critical · CVSS 3.0
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.81%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 56.89% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-1236 Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File
Fix
3.1.16
Upgrade thorsten/phpmyfaq to this version or later

Description

Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.1.16.

Affected versions

Packagist

PackageVulnerableFixed in
thorsten/phpmyfaq
< 3.1.16
3.1.16

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

thorsten/phpmyfaq Packagist → 3.1.16

composer
composer require thorsten/phpmyfaq:^3.1.16

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.0 8.8

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Weakness

CWE-1236: Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File

The product saves user-provided information into a Comma-Separated Value (CSV) file, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could be interpreted as a command when the file is opened by a spreadsheet product.

How to prevent it
  • Implementation: When generating CSV output, ensure that formula-sensitive metacharacters are effectively escaped or removed from all data before storage in the resultant CSV. Risky characters include '=' (equal), '+' (plus), '-' (minus), and '@' (at).
  • Implementation: If a field starts with a formula character, prepend it with a ' (single apostrophe), which prevents Excel from executing the formula.
  • Architecture and Design: Certain implementations of spreadsheet software might disallow formulas from executing if the file is untrusted, or if the file is not authored by the current user.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-rw77-vq4g-x3hp
phpMyFAQ has SQL Injection in `StopWords::add()` — Unescaped Stop Word Insertion
High Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
GHSA-8gpw-xvpf-hvx5
phpMyFAQ's two-factor authentication login bypasses the password factor
High Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
GHSA-pgwp-vc7q-cvj3
phpMyFAQ has Stored XSS in Admin FAQ Editor via HTML Entity Bypass in Frontend FAQ Submission
High Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
GHSA-6pvm-2vjj-rx4w
phpMyFAQ: SQL LIKE Wildcard Injection in Chat User Search Allows Authenticated User Enumeration
Medium Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
GHSA-mf8r-wm2w-f8c5
phpMyFAQ public FAQ APIs expose inactive FAQ content
Medium Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
GHSA-88g4-74f3-63x9
phpMyFAQ has Potential Authenticated Path Traversal in PDF Export
Medium Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
GHSA-pg62-f8g4-4wqh
phpMyFAQ privilege escalation: GroupController::updatePermissions lets a GROUP_EDIT admin grant rights they do not hold
High Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
GHSA-985r-q3qp-299h
phpMyFAQ has an incomplete fix for GHSA-xvp4-phqj-cjr3 — editUser() and updateUserRights() lack authorization guards
High Also affects thorsten/phpmyfaq
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