CVE-2016-10033

What the flaw is

PHPMailer contains a command injection vulnerability because it fails to sanitize user-supplied input. Specifically, this issue affects the 'mail()' function of 'class.phpmailer.php' script. An attacker can exploit this issue to execute arbitrary code within the context of the application. Failed exploit attempts will result in a denial-of-service condition.

Description as published by CISA. We have not independently reproduced it.

What CISA requires

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

This deadline is binding on US federal civilian agencies under BOD 22-01. It is not a legal deadline for anyone else, but it is a useful urgency signal — CISA sets it by how actively the flaw is being used, not by CVSS.

Public exploit code

222 public repositories referencing this CVE have been catalogued on GitHub. That volume usually means a reliable, widely-reproduced exploit. Treat this as a strong signal to prioritise patching, not as a verified working exploit — many such repositories are scanners, write-ups or forks rather than functional code.

• 0x00-0x00/CVE-2016-10033
• 0x783kb/Security-operation-book
• 0xZEros66/Wordpress-Exploit-AiO-Package
• 20142995/nuclei-templates
• 777sot/PHPMailer
• 941-Abhi/Travel-Recommendation-System
• ARPSyndicate/cve-scores
• ARPSyndicate/cvemon

Showing 8 of 222. Full list in the trickest/cve dataset.

Vendor advisories

• github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.18
• github.com/advisories/GHSA-5f37-gxvh-23v6
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-10033

Primary sources

• NVD entry — CVSS score, CPE list and references
• CISA KEV catalog — the source for this page
• CVE Record at cve.org