CVE-2019-12331
XXE in PHPSpreadsheet due to incomplete fix for previous encoding issue
CVE-2019-12331 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.8) in Phpoffice Phpspreadsheet, published November 7, 2019. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.35%, the 71st percentile. Fixed in phpoffice/phpspreadsheet 1.8.0.
- Severity
- 8.8 HighCVSS 3.1, NVD
- Exploit chance
- 1.35%EPSS, 71st percentile
- Exploitation
- None knownNot on CISA’s or ENISA’s lists
- Fixed in
1.8.0phpoffice/phpspreadsheet +3 more
Description
PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ‚<!ENTITY‘ and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
phpoffice/phpspreadsheetPackagist | before 1.8.0 | 1.8.0 |
phpoffice/phpexcelPackagist | through 1.8.2 | None known |
phpoffice/phpspreadsheetPackagist | before 1.8.0, plus listed versions 1.0.01.0.0-beta1.0.0-beta21.1.01.2.0 Show 10 moreShow less1.2.11.3.01.3.11.4.01.4.11.5.01.5.11.5.21.6.01.7.0 | 1.8.0 |
phpoffice/phpexcelPackagist | through 1.8.2, plus listed versions 1.7.91.7.9-rc11.8.01.8.0rc11.8.0rc21.8.0rc31.8.0rc41.8.1 | None known |
What each source reports
NVD Score used
PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ‚<!ENTITY‘ and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.
- Record
CVE-2019-12331- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-611
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE ListNo score
PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ‚<!ENTITY‘ and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.
- Record
CVE-2019-12331- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2019-0763No score
PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ‚<!ENTITY‘ and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.
- Record
EUVD-2019-0763- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-vvwv-h69m-wg6f
XXE in PHPSpreadsheet due to incomplete fix for previous encoding issue
PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ?<!ENTITY? and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.
- Record
GHSA-vvwv-h69m-wg6f- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-611
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ‚<!ENTITY‘ and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.
- Record
CVE-2019-12331- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-vvwv-h69m-wg6f
XXE in PHPSpreadsheet due to incomplete fix for previous encoding issue
PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ?<!ENTITY? and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.
- Record
GHSA-vvwv-h69m-wg6f- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-611
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| facts | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
References
github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md
herolab.usd.de/security-advisories/usd-2019-0046
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12331