CVE-2024-48917 | XXE in PHPSpreadsheet's XLSX reader

Exp

PhpSpreadsheet is a PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. The `XmlScanner` class has a scan method which should prevent XXE attacks. However, in a bypass of the previously reported `CVE-2024-47873`, the regexes from the `findCharSet` method, which is used for determining the current encoding can be bypassed by using a payload in the encoding UTF-7, and adding at end of the file a comment with the value `encoding="UTF-8"` with `"`, which is matched by the first regex, so that `encoding='UTF-7'` with single quotes `'` in the XML header is not matched by the second regex. An attacker can bypass the sanitizer and achieve an XML external entity attack. Versions 1.9.4, 2.1.3, 2.3.2, and 3.4.0 fix the issue.

Published: 2024-11-18 Last update: 2025-03-07 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-48917 is rated Exploit Available (59.8/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.21%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2024-48917

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-48917

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-15 0.29% 0.21% -0.09%
2 2025-12-27 0.06% 0.29% +0.23%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-48917

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-48917

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2024-48917

GHSA-7cc9-j4mv-vcjp · Severity: high · Ecosystem: composer — XXE in PHPSpreadsheet's XLSX reader

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-48917

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
phpoffice phpspreadsheet < 1.29.4 cpe:2.3:a:phpoffice:phpspreadsheet:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
phpoffice phpspreadsheet >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.3 cpe:2.3:a:phpoffice:phpspreadsheet:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
phpoffice phpspreadsheet >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:phpoffice:phpspreadsheet:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
phpoffice phpspreadsheet >= 3.3.0, < 3.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:phpoffice:phpspreadsheet:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-48917

cvelogic Threat Intelligence