Log injection in SimpleSAMLphp

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2020-5225: 0.66% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 51.58 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Background SimpleSAMLphp has a logging functionality that allows system administrators to keep track of the activity, errors, and statistics. Additionally, it allows users to report errors, shall they happen. An error report contains a report identifier, which is logged once submitted. Description The www/erroreport.php script, which receives error reports and sends them via email to the system administrator, didn't properly sanitize the report identifier obtained from the request. This allows an attacker, under specific circumstances, to inject new log lines by manually crafting this report ID. When configured to use the file logging handler, SimpleSAMLphp will output all its logs by appending each log line to a given file. Since the reportID parameter received in a request sent to www/errorreport.php was not properly sanitized, it was possible to inject newline characters into it, effectively allowing a malicious user to inject new log lines with arbitrary content. Affected…

Published by the source

24 Jan 2020, 21:26 UTC

Last modified by the source

9 Jan 2023, 05:02 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 13:56 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-6gc6-m364-85ww

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2020-5225

Advisory: Log injection in SimpleSAMLphp
IDs: CVE-2020-5225, GHSA-6gc6-m364-85ww
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2020-5225 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:56 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 4.4)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp 1.18.4. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Packagist simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp: affected < 1.18.4; fixed in 1.18.4

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Packagist simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6gc6-m364-85ww (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-6gc6-m364-85ww lists affected ranges: Packagist simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp >=0 <1.18.4)

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