OS command injection in PHP - CVE-2012-1823
Published: January 11, 2017 / Updated: June 7, 2024
Vulnerability identifier: #VU4201
CSH Severity: Critical
CVSS v4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:A/U:Red
CVE-ID: CVE-2012-1823
CWE-ID: CWE-78
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
The vulnerability is being exploited in the wild
Vendor: PHP Group
Affected software:
PHP
PHP
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.
The weakness exists due to error when parsing QUERY_STRING parameters within PHP-CGI-based application (sapi/cgi/cgi_main.c). A remote attacker can send specially crafted HTTP request with query string without the "=" (equals sign) character, inject and execute arbitrary OS commands on vulnerable system with privileges of the web server.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in denial of service or arbitrary code execution on the vulnerable system.
Note: the vulnerability was being actively exploited.
The weakness exists due to error when parsing QUERY_STRING parameters within PHP-CGI-based application (sapi/cgi/cgi_main.c). A remote attacker can send specially crafted HTTP request with query string without the "=" (equals sign) character, inject and execute arbitrary OS commands on vulnerable system with privileges of the web server.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in denial of service or arbitrary code execution on the vulnerable system.
Note: the vulnerability was being actively exploited.
How to mitigate CVE-2012-1823
Update to version 5.3.12 or 5.4.2 or later.