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PhpSpreadsheet allows bypass XSS sanitizer using the javascript protocol and special characters

  • Publicada: 03.01.2025
  • Actualizado: 11.10.2026 10:22

Bypass XSS sanitizer using the javascript protocol and special characters

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: 5.4 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N) CVSS vector v.4.0: 4.8 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N) Description: an attacker can use special characters, so that the library processes the javascript protocol with special characters and generates an HTML link Impact: executing arbitrary JavaScript code in the browser Vulnerable component: class PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Html, method generateRow Exploitation conditions: a user viewing a specially generated Excel file Mitigation: additional sanitization of special characters in a string Researcher: Aleksey Solovev (Positive Technologies)

Research

The researcher discovered zero-day vulnerability Bypass XSS sanitizer using the javascript protocol and special characters in Phpspreadsheet.

The following code is written on the server, which translates the XLSX file into a HTML representation and displays it in the response.

Listing 6. Source code on the server

php
<?php

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

$inputFileName = './doc/Book1.xlsx';
$spreadsheet = \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\IOFactory::load($inputFileName);
$writer = new \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Html($spreadsheet);
print($writer->generateHTMLAll());

An attacker can use special characters so that this library processes the javascript protocol with special characters and generates a HTML link. The Excel file is unpacked and a hyperlink in the file is inserted into the xl/worksheets/sheet1.xml file.

fig11

Figure 11. Using the javascript protocol with special characters

Some payloads help bypass the security system and carry out a XSS attack.

Listing 7. HTML form that demonstrates the exploitation of the XSS vulnerability

jav&#x09;ascript:alert()
jav&#x0D;ascript:alert()
jav&#x0A;ascript:alert()

It's clear that the javascript protocol with special characters is used.

fig12

Figure 12. Using the javascript protocol with special characters

Due to the special characters, the execution stream ends up on line 1543, and the link is built in HTML form with the javascript protocol.

<img width="373" alt="fig13" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3ca0c3c6-daa9-4502-ad9e-b803f308fd26" />

Figure 13. Executing arbitrary JavaScript code

Credit

This vulnerability was discovered by Aleksey Solovev (Positive Technologies)

Software afectado

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PlataformaPaqueteVersiones vulnerablesCorregida en
Paquete de Composer phpoffice/phpexcel <= 1.8.2 sin corrección
Paquete de Composer phpoffice/phpspreadsheet >= 3.0.0, < 3.7.0, < 1.29.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.6, >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.5 3.7.0, 1.29.7, 2.1.6, 2.3.5

Referencias

Puntuación CVSS 5.4/10
Vector CVSS
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Debilidad (CWE)
CWE-79
Plataforma
Composer
Paquete
phpoffice/phpexcel, phpoffice/phpspreadsheet
Publicada
03.01.2025
Actualizado
11.10.2026 10:22

Fuentes y licencias

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-q9jv-mm3r-j47r - CC BY 4.0

Historial de vulnerabilidades: phpoffice/phpspreadsheet

Todas las vulnerabilidades publicadas de este paquete (Paquete de Composer), de la más reciente a la más antigua. Muestra si es un fallo aislado o un paquete que hay que vigilar.

Todas (31) en el archivo
Entradas en total
31
Primera → última
11.2019 07.2026
Sin corrección
0
Explotada en ataques
0

Distribución por gravedad

  • Crítica 2
  • Alta 17
  • Media 12

Divulgaciones por año

Gravedad:
  1. PHPSpreadsheet: XLS/OLE sector-chain self-loop causes memory exhaustion
    Alta · 7.5 CVE-2026-59933 >= 4.0.0, < 5.8.1, >= 3.3.0, < 3.10.7, >= 2.2.0, < 2.4.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.18, < 1.30.6 5.8.1, 3.10.7, 2.4.7, 2.1.18, 1.30.6
  2. PHPSpreadsheet: Gnumeric reader unbounded gzip expansion causes memory exhaustion
    Alta · 7.5 CVE-2026-59932 >= 4.0.0, < 5.8.1, >= 3.3.0, < 3.10.7, >= 2.2.0, < 2.4.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.18, < 1.30.6 5.8.1, 3.10.7, 2.4.7, 2.1.18, 1.30.6
  3. PHPSpreadsheet: SSRF bypass via HTTP redirect in WEBSERVICE() domain whitelist
    Alta · 7.7 CVE-2026-59931 >= 4.0.0, < 5.8.1, >= 3.3.0, < 3.10.7, >= 2.2.0, < 2.4.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.18, < 1.30.6 5.8.1, 3.10.7, 2.4.7, 2.1.18, 1.30.6
  4. PHPSpreadsheet has a patch bypass for CVE-2026-34084
    Crítica CVE-2026-45034 < 1.30.5 1.30.5
  5. PhpSpreadsheet has CPU Denial of Service via Unbounded Row Number in XLSX Row Dimensions
    Alta · 7.5 CVE-2026-40902 >= 4.0.0, < 5.7.0, >= 3.3.0, < 3.10.5, >= 2.2.0, < 2.4.5, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.16, < 1.30.4 5.7.0, 3.10.5, 2.4.5, 2.1.16, 1.30.4
  6. PhpSpreadsheet has CPU Denial of Service via Unbounded Row Index in SpreadsheetML XML Reader
    Alta · 7.5 CVE-2026-40863 >= 4.0.0, < 5.7.0, >= 3.3.0, < 3.10.5, >= 2.2.0, < 2.4.5, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.16, < 1.30.4 5.7.0, 3.10.5, 2.4.5, 2.1.16, 1.30.4
  7. PhpSpreadsheet has SSRF/RCE in IOFactory::load when $filename is user controlled
    Crítica CVE-2026-34084 >= 4.0.0, < 5.6.0, >= 3.3.0, < 3.10.4, >= 2.2.0, < 2.4.4, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.15, < 1.30.3 5.6.0, 3.10.4, 2.4.4, 2.1.15, 1.30.3
  8. PhpSpreadsheet vulnerable to SSRF when reading and displaying a processed HTML document in the browser
    Alta CVE-2025-54370 < 1.30.0, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.12, >= 2.2.0, < 2.4.0, >= 3.0.0, < 3.10.0, >= 4.0.0, < 5.0.0 1.30.0, 2.1.12, 2.4.0, 3.10.0, 5.0.0
  9. PhpSpreadsheet allows bypass XSS sanitizer using the javascript protocol and special characters esta entrada
    Media · 5.4 CVE-2024-56412 >= 3.0.0, < 3.7.0, < 1.29.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.6, >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.5 3.7.0, 1.29.7, 2.1.6, 2.3.5
  10. PhpSpreadsheet allows unauthorized Reflected XSS in Currency.php file
    Alta · 7.1 CVE-2024-56409 >= 3.0.0, < 3.7.0, < 1.29.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.6, >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.5 3.7.0, 1.29.7, 2.1.6, 2.3.5
  11. PhpSpreadsheet allows unauthorized Reflected XSS in the Accounting.php file
    Alta · 7.1 CVE-2024-56366 >= 3.0.0, < 3.7.0, < 1.29.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.6, >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.5 3.7.0, 1.29.7, 2.1.6, 2.3.5
  12. PhpSpreadsheet allows unauthorized Reflected XSS in the constructor of the Downloader class
    Alta · 7.1 CVE-2024-56365 >= 3.0.0, < 3.7.0, < 1.29.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.6, >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.5 3.7.0, 1.29.7, 2.1.6, 2.3.5
  13. PhpSpreadsheet allows unauthorized Reflected XSS in `Convert-Online.php` file
    Alta · 7.1 CVE-2024-56408 >= 3.0.0, < 3.7.0, < 1.29.7, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.6, >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.5 3.7.0, 1.29.7, 2.1.6, 2.3.5
  14. XXE in PHPSpreadsheet's XLSX reader
    Alta · 7.5 CVE-2024-48917 < 1.29.4, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.3, >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.2, >= 3.3.0, < 3.4.0 1.29.4, 2.1.3, 2.3.2, 3.4.0
  15. XmlScanner bypass leads to XXE
    Alta · 7.5 CVE-2024-47873 < 1.29.4, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.3, >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.2, >= 3.3.0, < 3.4.0 1.29.4, 2.1.3, 2.3.2, 3.4.0
  16. PhpSpreadsheet allows absolute path traversal and Server-Side Request Forgery when opening XLSX file
    Alta · 7.7 CVE-2024-45290 >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.0, < 1.29.2, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1 2.3.0, 1.29.2, 2.1.1
  17. PHPSpreadsheet Library < 2.3.0 - XXE Injection
    Alta · 7.5 CVE-2024-45293 >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.0, < 1.29.1, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1 2.3.0, 1.29.1, 2.1.1
  18. XXE in PHPSpreadsheet encoding is returned
    Alta · 8.8 CVE-2024-45048 < 1.29.1, >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.1, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1 1.29.1, 2.2.1, 2.1.1
  19. XXE in PHPSpreadsheet due to incomplete fix for previous encoding issue
    Alta · 8.8 CVE-2019-12331 < 1.8.0 1.8.0
  20. XXE in PHPSpreadsheet due to encoding issue
    Alta · 8.8 CVE-2018-19277 < 1.5.1 1.5.1

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