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Vulnerability record · CVE-2009-4142 · published 21 December 2009

CVE-2009-4142: Php cross-site scripting vulnerability

Php · Php

The htmlspecialchars function in PHP before 5.2.12 does not properly handle (1) overlong UTF-8 sequences, (2) invalid Shift_JIS sequences, and (3) invalid EUC-JP sequences, which allows remote attackers to conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks by placing a crafted byte sequence before a special character.

4.3 CVSS 2.0 Medium EPSS 6.5% · top 6.5% CWE-79 · Cross-site scripting
4.3CVSS 2.0 base score
6.5%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
30References, 4 tagged exploit
16 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

The htmlspecialchars function in PHP before 5.2.12 does not properly handle (1) overlong UTF-8 sequences, (2) invalid Shift_JIS sequences, and (3) invalid EUC-JP sequences, which allows remote attackers to conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks by placing a crafted byte sequence before a special character.

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=49785
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2010//Mar/msg00001.html
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=127680701405735&w=2
http://secunia.com/advisories/37821 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/38648
http://secunia.com/advisories/40262
http://securitytracker.com/id?1023372 Exploit
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4077
http://www.debian.org/security/2010/dsa-2001
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php Patch
http://www.php.net/releases/5_2_12.php
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37389 Exploit
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/3593 Vendor Advisory
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A10005
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A7085
http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=49785
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2010//Mar/msg00001.html
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=127680701405735&w=2
http://secunia.com/advisories/37821 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/38648
http://secunia.com/advisories/40262
http://securitytracker.com/id?1023372 Exploit
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4077
http://www.debian.org/security/2010/dsa-2001
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php Patch
http://www.php.net/releases/5_2_12.php
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37389 Exploit
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/3593 Vendor Advisory
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A10005
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A7085

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Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2009-4142), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.