HIGH
php: Heap-based buffer overflow in the mbstring extension via crafted string containing a HTML entity (arb code execution)
Published Dec 23, 2008
10.0
HIGHCVSS 2.0
EPSS 7.37%
Description
Heap-based buffer overflow in ext/mbstring/libmbfl/filters/mbfilter_htmlent.c in the mbstring extension in PHP 4.3.0 through 5.2.6 allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted string containing an HTML entity, which is not properly handled during Unicode conversion, related to the (1) mb_convert_encoding, (2) mb_check_encoding, (3) mb_convert_variables, and (4) mb_parse_str functions.
Affected products
No data.
OR
- 4.3.0
- 4.3.1
- 4.3.2
- 4.3.3
- 4.3.4
- 4.3.5
- 4.3.6
- 4.3.7
- 4.3.8
- 4.3.9
- 4.3.10
- 4.3.11
- 4.4.0
- 4.4.1
- 4.4.2
- 4.4.3
- 4.4.4
- 4.4.5
- 4.4.6
- 4.4.7
- 4.4.8
- 4.4.9
- 5.0.0
- 5.0.0
- 5.0.0
- 5.0.0
- 5.0.0
- 5.0.0
- 5.0.0
- 5.0.0
- 5.0.1
- 5.0.2
- 5.0.3
- 5.0.4
- 5.0.5
- 5.1.0
- 5.1.1
- 5.1.2
- 5.1.3
- 5.1.4
- 5.1.5
- 5.1.6
- 5.2.0
- 5.2.1
- 5.2.2
- 5.2.3
- 5.2.4
- 5.2.5
- 5.2.6
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
php-0:4.3.2-51.ent
Fixed · RHSA-2009:0337
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
php-0:4.3.9-3.22.15
Fixed · RHSA-2009:0337
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
php-0:5.1.6-23.2.el5_3
Fixed · RHSA-2009:0338
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 | php-0:4.3.2-51.ent | Fixed | RHSA-2009:0337 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 | php-0:4.3.9-3.22.15 | Fixed | RHSA-2009:0337 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | php-0:5.1.6-23.2.el5_3 | Fixed | RHSA-2009:0338 |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
10.0 HIGH NVD
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Access Vector Network
Access Complexity Low
Authentication None
Confidentiality Impact Complete
Integrity Impact Complete
Availability Impact Complete
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
7.37% 0.07371
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 2, 2026.
EPSS probability 0.07371
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (17 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | 7.37% (0.07371) | 94.23th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 7.37% (0.07371) | 93.60th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Dec 28, 2025 | 29.70% (0.29698) | 96.46th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 27, 2025 | 23.18% (0.23183) | 95.77th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Oct 28, 2025 | 29.70% (0.29698) | 96.39th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Oct 27, 2025 | 23.18% (0.23183) | 95.70th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Oct 1, 2025 | 29.70% (0.29698) | 96.49th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jul 30, 2025 | 23.18% (0.23183) | 95.69th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jul 7, 2025 | 29.70% (0.29698) | 96.40th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 20.90% (0.20900) | 95.15th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 17, 2024 | 14.36% (0.14361) | 95.70th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 4.23% (0.04229) | 92.57th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Aug 3, 2023 | 3.74% (0.03743) | 90.57th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 3.23% (0.03233) | 89.70th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 4.42% (0.04421) | 88.21th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 4.42% (0.04421) | 87.03th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 4.42% (0.04421) | 70.83th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
Weaknesses (2)
References (33)
- http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2008-12/0477.html mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISC
- http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=45722 x_refsource_CONFIRMExploit
- http://cvs.php.net/viewvc.cgi/php-src/ext/mbstring/libmbfl/filters/mbfilter_htmlent.c?r1=1.7&r2=1.8 x_refsource_CONFIRMExploit
- http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c02029444 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_HP
- http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/May/msg00002.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_APPLE
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-02/msg00002.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-04/msg00003.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=124654546101607&w=2 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_HP
- http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=125631037611762&w=2 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_HP
- http://secunia.com/advisories/34642 third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIA
- http://secunia.com/advisories/35003 third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIA
- http://secunia.com/advisories/35074 third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIA
- http://secunia.com/advisories/35306 third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIA
- http://secunia.com/advisories/35650 third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIA
- http://securitytracker.com/id?1021482 vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACK
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3549 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- http://wiki.rpath.com/Advisories:rPSA-2009-0035 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- http://www.debian.org/security/2009/dsa-1789 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIAN
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:045 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_MANDRIVA
- http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.2.7 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-0350.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/501376/100/0/threaded mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQ
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/32948 vdb-entryx_refsource_BID
- http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-133A.html third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERTUS Government Resource
- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1297 vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPEN
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-5557 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=478848 Issue Tracking
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/47525 vdb-entryx_refsource_XF
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5557
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A10286 vdb-entrysignaturex_refsource_OVAL
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-5557
- https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-May/msg01451.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-May/msg01465.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.
Sources
CVE.org / MITRE
Status PUBLISHED
Assigner mitre
Published Dec 23, 2008
Updated Aug 7, 2024
Reserved Dec 15, 2008
Link CVE-2008-5557
CISA Vulnrichment
Updated n/a