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High, CVSS 8.7

XXE in PHPSpreadsheet's XLSX reader

CVE-2024-45293GHSA-6hwr-6v2f-3m88

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< 1.29.1>= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1
    Fixed in
    1.29.1, 2.3.0, 2.1.1

Sources

Severity and exploitation
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:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source
EPSS
  • CVE-2024-45293: 2.78% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 86.38 (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 The security scanner responsible for preventing XXE attacks in the XLSX reader can be bypassed by slightly modifying the XML structure, utilizing white-spaces. On servers that allow users to upload their own Excel (XLSX) sheets, Server files and sensitive information can be disclosed by providing a crafted sheet. Details The security scan function in src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Security/XmlScanner.php contains a flawed XML encoding check to retrieve the input file's XML encoding in the toUtf8 function. The function searches for the XML encoding through a defined regex which looks for encoding="" and/or encoding='', if not found, it defaults to the UTF-8 encoding which bypasses the conversion logic. This logic can be used to pass a UTF-7 encoded XXE payload, by utilizing a whitespace before or after the = in the attribute definition. PoC Needed: - An Excel sheet (XLSX) with at least one cell containing a value. Unzip the excel sheet, and modify the xl/SharedStrings.xml file with…

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

    Published from ghsa record GHSA-6hwr-6v2f-3m88

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2024-45293

Advisory: XXE in PHPSpreadsheet's XLSX reader
IDs: CVE-2024-45293, GHSA-6hwr-6v2f-3m88
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2024-45293 (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 2.3.0, 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 >= 2.2.0, < 2.3.0; < 1.29.1; >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1; fixed in 1.29.1, 2.3.0, 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-6hwr-6v2f-3m88 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-6hwr-6v2f-3m88 lists affected ranges: Packagist phpoffice/phpspreadsheet >=2.2.0 =0 =2.0.0 =0 <=1.8.2)

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