php-imap vulnerable to RCE through a directory traversal vulnerability

Exploitation

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

CVSS

9.0 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2023-35169: 3.19% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 88.12 (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.

Summary An unsanitized attachment filename allows any unauthenticated user to leverage a directory traversal vulnerability which results in a remote code execution vulnerability. Details An attacker can send an email with a malicious attachment to the inbox, which gets crawled with webklex/php-imap or webklex/laravel-imap. Prerequisite for the vulnerability is that the script stores the attachments without providing a $filename, or providing an unsanitized $filename, in src/Attachment::save(string $path, string $filename = null) (https://github.com/Webklex/php-imap/blob/5.2.0/src/Attachment.php#L251-L255). In this case, where no $filename gets passed into the Attachment::save() method, the package would use a series of unsanitized and insecure input values from the mail as fallback (https://github.com/Webklex/php-imap/blob/5.2.0/src/Attachment.php#L252). Even if a developer passes a $filename into the Attachment::save() method, e.g. by passing the name or filename of the mail…

Published by the source

21 Jun 2023, 21:58 UTC

Last modified by the source

7 Nov 2023, 05:02 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:10 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-35169

Advisory: php-imap vulnerable to RCE through a directory traversal vulnerability
IDs: CVE-2023-35169, GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-35169 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:10 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.0)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: webklex/laravel-imap 5.3.0; webklex/php-imap 5.3.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Packagist webklex/laravel-imap: affected < 5.3.0; fixed in 5.3.0
- Packagist webklex/php-imap: affected < 5.3.0; fixed in 5.3.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Packagist webklex/laravel-imap: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Packagist webklex/php-imap: 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 webklex/laravel-imap, webklex/php-imap.
- 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-47p7-xfcc-4pv9 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-47p7-xfcc-4pv9 lists affected ranges: Packagist webklex/php-imap >=0 =0 <5.3.0)

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