XXE in PHPSpreadsheet encoding is returned

Exploitation

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

CVSS 4.0

8.7 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2024-45048: 0.60% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 48.98 (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 Bypassing the filter allows a XXE-attack. Which is turn allows attacker to obtain contents of local files, even if error reporting muted by @ symbol. (LFI-attack) Details Check $pattern = '/encoding="(.?)"/'; easy to bypass. Just use a single quote symbol '. So payload looks like this: If you add this header to any XML file into xlsx-formatted file, such as sharedStrings.xml file, then xxe will execute. PoC 1) Create simple xlsx file 2) Rename xlsx to zip 3) Go to the zip and open the xl/sharedStrings.xml file in edit mode. 4) Replace <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"? to 5) Save sharedStrings.xml file and rename zip back to xlsx. 6) Use minimal php code that simply opens this xlsx file: 7) You will receive the request to your http://%webhook%/file.dtd 8) Dont't forget that you can use php-wrappers into xxe, some php:// wrapper payload allows fetch local files. Impact Read local files

Published by the source

29 Aug 2024, 17:58 UTC

Last modified by the source

6 Mar 2025, 18:10 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:29 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2024-45048

Advisory: XXE in PHPSpreadsheet encoding is returned
IDs: CVE-2024-45048, GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2024-45048 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:29 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.7)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Partial vendor fix; fixed versions by package: phpoffice/phpspreadsheet 2.2.1, 2.1.1, 1.29.1. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Packagist phpoffice/phpexcel: affected <= 1.8.2
- Packagist phpoffice/phpspreadsheet: affected < 1.29.1; >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.1; >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1; fixed in 1.29.1, 2.1.1, 2.2.1

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

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on phpoffice/phpexcel, phpoffice/phpspreadsheet.
- 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-ghg6-32f9-2jp7 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-ghg6-32f9-2jp7 lists affected ranges: Packagist phpoffice/phpspreadsheet >=0 =2.2.0 =2.0.0 =0 <=1.8.2)

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