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TI-2023-17615 Aliases CVE-2023-35169GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9

php-imap vulnerable to RCE through a directory traversal vulnerability

Priority HIGH 76CWE-22Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.

Summary

PHP-IMAP is a wrapper for common IMAP communication without the need to have the php-imap module installed / enabled. Prior to version 5.3.0, an unsanitized attachment filename allows any unauthenticated user to leverage a directory traversal vulnerability, which results in a remote code execution vulnerability. Every application that stores attachments with `Attachment::save()` without providing a `$filename` or passing unsanitized user input is affected by this attack. An attacker can send an email with a malicious attachment to the inbox, which gets crawled with `webklex/php-imap` or `webklex/laravel-imap`. Prerequisite for the vulnerability is that the script stores the attachments without providing a `$filename`, or providing an unsanitized `$filename`, in `src/Attachment::save(string $path, string $filename = null)`. In this case, where no `$filename` gets passed into the `Attachment::save()` method, the package would use a series of unsanitized and insecure input values from the mail as fallback. Even if a developer passes a `$filename` into the `Attachment::save()` method, e.g. by passing the name or filename of the mail attachment itself (from email headers), the input values never get sanitized by the package. There is also no restriction about the file extension (e.g. ".php") or the contents of a file. This allows an attacker to upload malicious code of any type and content at any location where the underlying user has write permissions. The attacker can also overwrite existing files and inject malicious code into files that, e.g. get executed by the system via cron or requests. Version 5.3.0 contains a patch for this issue.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.03191 88th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed php-imap (Webklex): 5.3.0webklex/php-imap (Packagist): 5.3.0+1 more product

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
Webklexphp-imapbefore 5.3.05.3.0Patch availableCNA
—webklex/php-imap (Packagist)before 5.3.05.3.0Patch availableGHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9
—webklex/laravel-imap (Packagist)before 5.3.05.3.0Patch availableGHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9
  • php-imap VendorWebklex Affected before 5.3.0 Fixed in 5.3.0 Patch available CNA
  • webklex/php-imap (Packagist) Vendor— Affected before 5.3.0 Fixed in 5.3.0 Patch available GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9
  • webklex/laravel-imap (Packagist) Vendor— Affected before 5.3.0 Fixed in 5.3.0 Patch available GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:webklex:php-imap:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 5.3.0VulnerableWebklex
  • cpe:2.3:a:webklex:php-imap:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 5.3.0 Vulnerable ·Webklex

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA php-imap (Webklex) Fixed in 5.3.0
  • Fix · GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9 webklex/php-imap (Packagist) Fixed in 5.3.0 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9 webklex/laravel-imap (Packagist) Fixed in 5.3.0 Advisory →

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-35169
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9

References

Sources