Summary
SMTP Injection in PHPMailer
Workarounds
Manually strip line breaks from email addresses before passing them to PHPMailer.
References
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8476
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open a private issue in the PHPMailer project
Impact
Attackers could inject arbitrary SMTP commands via by exploiting the fact that valid email addresses may contain line breaks, which are not handled correctly in some contexts.
The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths. Typical impact: varies by context: data corruption, logic bypass, or denial of service.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Fixed in 5.2.14 in this commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2015-8476? CVE-2015-8476 is a low-severity improper input validation vulnerability in phpmailer/phpmailer (composer), affecting versions >= 5.0.0, < 5.2.14. It is fixed in 5.2.14. The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths.
- Which versions of phpmailer/phpmailer are affected by CVE-2015-8476? phpmailer/phpmailer (composer) versions >= 5.0.0, < 5.2.14 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2015-8476? Yes. CVE-2015-8476 is fixed in 5.2.14. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2015-8476 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2015-8476 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2015-8476 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2015-8476? Upgrade
phpmailer/phpmailerto 5.2.14 or later.