PhpSpreadsheet: CPU Denial of Service via Unbounded Row Number in XLSX Row Dimensions
Priority HIGH 72CWE-770Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-770.
Summary
PhpSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Prior to 1.30.4, 2.1.16, 2.4.5, 3.10.5, and 5.7.0, the XLSX reader's ColumnAndRowAttributes::readRowAttributes() method reads row numbers from XML attributes without validating them against the spreadsheet maximum row limit (AddressRange::MAX_ROW = 1,048,576). An attacker can craft a minimal XLSX file (~1.6KB) containing a <row r="999999999"/> element that inflates cachedHighestRow to 999,999,999, causing any subsequent row iteration to attempt ~1 billion loop cycles and exhaust CPU resources. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.30.4, 2.1.16, 2.4.5, 3.10.5, and 5.7.0.
Why it matters now
Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00395 33rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed PhpSpreadsheet (PHPOffice): 1.30.4, 2.1.16, 2.4.5 +2phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist): 5.7.0, 3.10.5, 2.4.5 +2
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHPOffice | PhpSpreadsheet | before 1.30.4; 2.0.0 to before 2.1.16; 2.2.0 to before 2.4.5; 3.3.0 to before 3.10.5; 4.0.0 to before 5.7.0 | 1.30.4, 2.1.16, 2.4.5, 3.10.5, 5.7.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) | 4.0.0 to before 5.7.0 | 5.7.0 | Patch available | GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m |
| — | phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) | 3.3.0 to before 3.10.5 | 3.10.5 | Patch available | GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m |
| — | phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) | 2.2.0 to before 2.4.5 | 2.4.5 | Patch available | GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m |
| — | phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) | 2.0.0 to before 2.1.16 | 2.1.16 | Patch available | GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m |
| — | phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) | before 1.30.4 | 1.30.4 | Patch available | GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m |
- PhpSpreadsheet VendorPHPOffice Affected before 1.30.4; 2.0.0 to before 2.1.16; 2.2.0 to before 2.4.5; 3.3.0 to before 3.10.5; 4.0.0 to before 5.7.0 Fixed in 1.30.4, 2.1.16, 2.4.5, 3.10.5, 5.7.0 Patch available CNA
- phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Vendor— Affected 4.0.0 to before 5.7.0 Fixed in 5.7.0 Patch available GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m
- phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Vendor— Affected 3.3.0 to before 3.10.5 Fixed in 3.10.5 Patch available GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m
- phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Vendor— Affected 2.2.0 to before 2.4.5 Fixed in 2.4.5 Patch available GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m
- phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Vendor— Affected 2.0.0 to before 2.1.16 Fixed in 2.1.16 Patch available GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m
- phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Vendor— Affected before 1.30.4 Fixed in 1.30.4 Patch available GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:phpoffice:phpspreadsheet:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 1.30.4; 2.0.0 to before 2.1.16; 2.2.0 to before 2.4.5; 3.3.0 to before 3.10.5; 4.0.0 to before 5.7.0 | Vulnerable | PHPOffice |
- cpe:2.3:a:phpoffice:phpspreadsheet:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 1.30.4; 2.0.0 to before 2.1.16; 2.2.0 to before 2.4.5; 3.3.0 to before 3.10.5; 4.0.0 to before 5.7.0 Vulnerable ·PHPOffice
Remediation
- Fix · CNA PhpSpreadsheet (PHPOffice) Fixed in 1.30.4, 2.1.16, 2.4.5, 3.10.5, 5.7.0
- Fix · GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Fixed in 5.7.0 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Fixed in 3.10.5 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Fixed in 2.4.5 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Fixed in 2.1.16 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m phpoffice/phpspreadsheet (Packagist) Fixed in 1.30.4 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-40902
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m
References
More PHPOffice Phpspreadsheet vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-26406 PhpSpreadsheet SSRF and RCE via PHP stream wrappers in IOFactory::load CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.2
- TI-2024-37339 PhpSpreadsheet vulnerable to unauthorized reflected XSS in Currency.php file CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.3
- TI-2024-37338 PhpSpreadsheet allows unauthorized reflected XSS in `Convert-Online.php` file CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.3
- TI-2024-37325 PhpSpreadsheet vulnerable to unauthorized reflected XSS in the Accounting.php file CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.3
- TI-2024-37324 PhpSpreadsheet vulnerable to unauthorized reflected XSS in the constructor of the Downloader class CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.3
- TI-2024-30160 XML External Entity Reference (XXE) in PHPSpreadsheet CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-40902 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-40902 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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