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Vulnerability record · CVE-2019-12331 · published 7 November 2019

CVE-2019-12331: Phpoffice phpspreadsheet xml external entity (xxe) vulnerability

Phpoffice · Phpspreadsheet

PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ‚<!ENTITY‘ and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.

8.8 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 1.4% · top 29.6% CWE-611 · XML external entity (XXE)
8.8CVSS 3.1 base score, v2 6.8
1.4%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
4References, 2 tagged exploit
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet before 1.8.0 has an XXE issue. The XmlScanner decodes the sheet1.xml from an .xlsx to utf-8 if something else than UTF-8 is declared in the header. This was a security measurement to prevent CVE-2018-19277 but the fix is not sufficient. By double-encoding the the xml payload to utf-7 it is possible to bypass the check for the string ‚<!ENTITY‘ and thus allowing for an xml external entity processing (XXE) attack.

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

Affected products

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

References

LinkTags
https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#180---2019-07-01 Third Party Advisory
https://herolab.usd.de/security-advisories/usd-2019-0046/ ExploitThird Party Advisory
https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#180---2019-07-01 Third Party Advisory
https://herolab.usd.de/security-advisories/usd-2019-0046/ ExploitThird Party Advisory

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Related vulnerabilities

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

9.2CVE-2026-34084Phpoffice phpspreadsheet deserialization of untrusted data vulnerabilityPhpSpreadsheet is a library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. In versions 1.30.2 and earlier, 2.0.0 through 2.1.14, 2.2.0 through 2.4.3, 3.3…EPSS 0.78%8.8CVE-2024-45291Phpoffice phpspreadsheet server-side request forgery (ssrf) vulnerabilityPHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links im…EPSS 0.86%8.8CVE-2018-19277Phpoffice phpspreadsheet xml injection vulnerabilitysecurityScan() in PHPOffice PhpSpreadsheet through 1.5.0 allows a bypass of protection mechanisms for XXE via UTF-7 encoding in a .xlsx fileEPSS 7.8%8.3CVE-2024-56365Phpoffice phpspreadsheet cross-site scripting vulnerabilityPhpSpreadsheet is a PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Versions prior to 3.7.0, 2.3.5, 2.1.6, and 1.29.7 are vulnerable to unauth…EPSS 0.32%8.3CVE-2024-56366Phpoffice phpspreadsheet cross-site scripting vulnerabilityPhpSpreadsheet is a PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Versions prior to 3.7.0, 2.3.5, 2.1.6, and 1.29.7 are vulnerable to unauth…EPSS 0.33%8.3CVE-2024-56409Phpoffice phpspreadsheet cross-site scripting vulnerabilityPhpSpreadsheet is a PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Versions prior to 3.7.0, 2.3.5, 2.1.6, and 1.29.7 are vulnerable to unauth…EPSS 0.33%8.3CVE-2024-56408Phpoffice phpspreadsheet cross-site scripting vulnerabilityPhpSpreadsheet is a PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Versions prior to 3.7.0, 2.3.5, 2.1.6, and 1.29.7 have no sanitization in …EPSS 0.40%7.5CVE-2026-40863Phpoffice phpspreadsheet allocation without limits vulnerabilityPhpSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Prior to 1.30.4, 2.1.16, 2.4.5, 3.10.5, and 5.7.0, the SpreadsheetML …EPSS 0.49%

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2019-12331), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.