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Medium, CVSS 6.0

PhpSpreadsheet allows absolute path traversal and Server-Side Request Forgery in HTML writer when embedding images is enabled

CVE-2024-45291GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4

What to do

Partial vendor fix. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check back for a fix.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

  • Packagist phpoffice/phpexcel

    Affected
    <= 1.8.2
    Fixed in
    no fixed version recorded

  • Packagist phpoffice/phpspreadsheet

    Affected
    >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.0< 1.29.2>= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1
    Fixed in
    2.3.0, 1.29.2, 2.1.1

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS 4.0
6.0 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source
EPSS
  • CVE-2024-45291: 0.86% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 58.68 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file that links images from arbitrary paths. When embedding images has been enabled in HTML writer with $writer-setEmbedImages(true); those files will be included in the output as data: URLs, regardless of the file's type. Also URLs can be used for embedding, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerability. Details XLSX files allow embedding or linking media. When In xl/drawings/drawing1.xml an attacker can do e.g.: And then, in xl/drawings/rels/drawing1.xml.rels they can set the path to anything, such as: or When the HTML writer is outputting the image, it does not check the path in any way. Also the getimagesize() call does not mitigate this, because when getimagesize() returns false, an empty mime type is used. PoC Add this file in the same directory: book.xlsx Run with: php index.php Impact When embedding images has been enabled, an attacker can read arbitrary files on the server and perform arbitrary HTTP GET…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from ghsa record GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2024-45291

Advisory: PhpSpreadsheet allows absolute path traversal and Server-Side Request Forgery in HTML writer when embedding images is enabled
IDs: CVE-2024-45291, GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2024-45291 (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: Medium (CVSS 6.0)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Partial vendor fix; fixed versions by package: phpoffice/phpspreadsheet 2.3.0, 2.1.1, 1.29.2. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Packagist phpoffice/phpexcel: affected <= 1.8.2
- Packagist phpoffice/phpspreadsheet: affected >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.0; < 1.29.2; >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1; fixed in 2.3.0, 1.29.2, 2.1.1

## 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-w9xv-qf98-ccq4 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4 lists affected ranges: Packagist phpoffice/phpspreadsheet >=2.2.0 =0 =2.0.0 =0 <=1.8.2)

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