CVE-2018-19296 [High] | Security Vulnerability in Phpmailer

CVE-2018-19296 is rated Moderate Risk (63.6/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.47%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-02	1.55%	1.47%	-0.08%
2	2026-04-12	2.12%	1.55%	-0.57%
3	2026-03-25	—	2.12%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-02

1.55%

1.47%

-0.08%

2026-04-12

2.12%

1.55%

-0.57%

2026-03-25

—

2.12%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	5.9	[email protected]
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	8.6	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

8.8

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

5.9

[email protected]

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

8.6

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-19296

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2018-19296 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libphp-phpmailer), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-19296
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2018-19296 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libphp-phpmailer), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 7, released 4, DNE 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-19296

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-19296

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
phpmailer_project	phpmailer	< 5.2.27	cpe:2.3:a:phpmailer_project:phpmailer::::::::
phpmailer_project	phpmailer	>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.6	cpe:2.3:a:phpmailer_project:phpmailer::::::::
debian	debian_linux	8.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	9.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:::::::*
fedoraproject	fedora	33	cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:::::::*
fedoraproject	fedora	34	cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:::::::*
wordpress	wordpress	>= 3.7, <= 5.7	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::

References for CVE-2018-19296

URL	Tags
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.27	Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v6.0.6	Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/12/msg00020.html	Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3B5WDPGUFNPG4NAZ6G4BZX43BKLAVA5B/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/KPU66INRFY5BQ3ESVPRUXJR4DXQAFJVT/
https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4351	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2018-19296

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-19296

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-19296

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-19296

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2018-19296

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-19296

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-19296

References for CVE-2018-19296