CVE-2015-5243 — Vulnerability in david-garcia/phpwhois — CVE Details
CRITICAL
phpWhois arbitrary code execution via a crafted whois record
Published May 14, 2022Updated April 23, 2024Source: osv
Summary
phpWhois allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted whois record.
Advisory Timeline
- First published May 14, 2022 (1612 days ago).
- Last revised April 23, 2024 — 711 days after initial publication.
Remediation
Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.
Composer
Update jsmitty12/phpwhois to 5.1.0 or latercomposer require "jsmitty12/phpwhois:^5.1.0"
After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.
Affected Packages (9)
Affects 1 ecosystem: packagist (9).
| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed In |
|---|---|---|---|
| david-garcia/phpwhois | packagist | 4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.3.0, 4.3.1 (+1 more) | Range-based data available |
| kazist/phpwhois | packagist | 4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6 | Range-based data available |
| brightlocal/phpwhois | packagist | 4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5 | Range-based data available |
| phpwhois/phpwhois | packagist | 4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5 | Range-based data available |
| truckersmp/phpwhois | packagist | 4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.3.0 (+1 more) | Range-based data available |
| jsmitty12/phpwhois | packagist | 4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v5.0 (+2 more) | 5.1.0 |
| simple-updates/phpwhois | packagist | 1.0.0 | Range-based data available |
| ivankristianto/phpwhois | packagist | 4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6 (+1 more) | Range-based data available |
| serluck/phpwhois | packagist | 4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6 | Range-based data available |
Vulnerability Classification
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.
- CWE-94Code InjectionMITRE
CVSS Score Breakdown
What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.8 score means for each attack dimension.
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-5243ADVISORY
- https://github.com/jsmitty12/phpWhois/issues/19WEB
- https://github.com/Gemorroj/phpwhois/commit/91c937e03c876ba1290b6de2a3ad953d2105fdd0WEB
- https://github.com/sparc/phpWhois.org/commit/5cc572490c9053d46598ec9348a11e36a5a33a46#diff-f150ae17da7341bf6c2eff928684b3a3WEB
- https://blog.nettitude.com/uk/cve-2015-5243-phpwhois-remote-code-executionWEB
- https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/brightlocal/phpwhois/CVE-2015-5243.yamlWEB
- https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/david-garcia/phpwhois/CVE-2015-5243.yamlWEB
- https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/ivankristianto/phpwhois/CVE-2015-5243.yamlWEB
- https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/kazist/phpwhois/CVE-2015-5243.yamlWEB
- https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/phpwhois/phpwhois/CVE-2015-5243.yamlWEB
- https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/serluck/phpwhois/CVE-2015-5243.yamlWEB
- https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/simple-updates/phpwhois/CVE-2015-5243.yamlWEB
- https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/truckersmp/phpwhois/CVE-2015-5243.yamlWEB
- https://github.com/jsmitty12/phpWhois/blob/master/CHANGELOG.mdWEB
- https://github.com/sbaresearch/advisories/tree/public/2018/SBA-ADV-20180425-01_phpWhois_Code_ExecutionWEB
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2015-5243?
- phpWhois arbitrary code execution via a crafted whois record This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.8/10).
- How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2015-5243?
- CVE-2015-5243 affects david-garcia/phpwhois, kazist/phpwhois and brightlocal/phpwhois (and 6 more). Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2015-5243 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.
Severity & Exploitability
CVSS Score
9.8
Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.
Also Known As
GHSA-c95f-27gx-6vq9
Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-107845CRITICAL
Contao: Cross-site scripting in the comments bundle
- CVE-2026-92161CRITICAL
FriendsOfFlarum OAuth: Unauthenticated account takeover via unverified email trust in Discord OAuth provider
Check if you're affected
Scan your dependencies to see if this vulnerability affects your projects.
Scan Your Dependencies