CVE-2024-45290: phpspreadsheet Path Traversal — Exploit

Description

PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file which links media from external URLs. When opening the XLSX file, PhpSpreadsheet retrieves the image size and type by reading the file contents, if the provided path is a URL. By using specially crafted `php://filter` URLs an attacker can leak the contents of any file or URL. Note that this vulnerability is different from GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4, and resides in a different component. An attacker can access any file on the server, or leak information form arbitrary URLs, potentially exposing sensitive information such as AWS IAM credentials. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.2, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Is your site exposed to CVE-2024-45290?

Run a free security scan — no signup, results in seconds.

CVSS v3.1 Score

7.7

HIGH

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

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-36 CWE-36

CWE-918 Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
phpoffice	phpspreadsheet	< 1.29.2
phpoffice	phpspreadsheet	2.0.0 — 2.1.1
phpoffice	phpspreadsheet	2.2.0 — 2.3.0

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-45290? +

PHPSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. It's possible for an attacker to construct an XLSX file which links media from external URLs. When opening the XLSX file, PhpSpreadsheet retrieves the image size and type by reading the file contents, if the provided path is a URL. By using specially crafted `php://filter` URLs an attacker can leak the contents of any file or URL. Note that this vulnerability is different from GHSA-w9xv-qf98-ccq4, and resides in a different component. An attacker can access any file on the server, or leak information form arbitrary URLs, potentially exposing sensitive information such as AWS IAM credentials. This issue has been addressed in release versions 1.29.2, 2.1.1, and 2.3.0. All users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.7 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2024-45290? +

CVE-2024-45290 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.7 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching.

What products are affected by CVE-2024-45290? +

CVE-2024-45290 affects products from phpoffice, specifically: phpspreadsheet. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2024-45290? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

Related Vulnerabilities

CVE-2025-46822

OsamaTaher/Java-springboot-codebase is a collection of Java and Spring Boot code snippets, applications, and projects. Prior to commit c835c6f7799eacada4c0fc77e0816f250af01ad2, insufficient path …

CVE-2026-32997

A vulnerability allowing an authenticated user with the Backup Administrator role to write arbitrary files on Linux-based Veeam Backup & …

CVE-2024-51549 10.0

Absolute File Traversal vulnerabilities allows access and modification of un-intended resources. Affected products: ABB ASPECT - Enterprise v3.08.02; NEXUS Series …

CVE-2024-10811 9.8

Absolute path traversal in Ivanti EPM before the 2024 January-2025 Security Update and 2022 SU6 January-2025 Security Update allows a …

CVE-2025-0851 9.8

A path traversal issue in ZipUtils.unzip and TarUtils.untar in Deep Java Library (DJL) on all platforms allows a bad actor …

CVE-2024-20401 9.8

A vulnerability in the content scanning and message filtering features of Cisco Secure Email Gateway could allow an unauthenticated, remote …