Vulnerability Database

346,508

Total vulnerabilities in the database

XML-RPC for PHP's `Wrapper::buildClientWrapperCode` method allows code injection via malicious `$client` argument — phpxmlrpc / phpxmlrpc

Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')

In order for this weakness to be exploited, the following conditions have to apply, at the same time:

  • method Wrapper::buildClientWrapperCode, or any methods which depend on it, such as Wrapper::wrapXmlrpcServer, Wrapper::wrapXmlrpcMethod or Wrapper::buildWrapMethodSource must be in use. Note that they are not used by default in either the Client or Server classes provided by the library; the developer has to specifically make use of them in his/her own code
  • the $client argument to either of those methods should have been built with malicious data, ie. data controlled by a 3rd party, passed to its constructor call

This is most likely an uncommon usage scenario, and as such the chances of exploitation may be low.

NB the graphical debugger which is shipped as part of the library is vulnerable to this, when used with the option "Generate stub for method call" selected. In that case, the debugger will display but not execute the malicious code, which would have to be provided via carefully crafted values for the "Address" and "Path" inputs.

The attack scenario in this case is that a developer copies into his/her own source code the php snippet generated by the debugger, in a situation where the debugger is used with "Address"/"Path" input values supplied by a 3rd party. The malicious payload in the "Address"/"Path" input values should be easily recognized as suspicious by any barely proficient developer, as it resembles a bog-standard injection attack. It goes without saying that a responsible developer should not blindly copy and paste into his/her own code anything generated by a 3rd party tool, such as the phpxmlrpc debugger, without giving it at least a cursory scan.

Originally reported as issue #80

No technical information available.

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CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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