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PHPApplication

CVE-2019-9020

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-02-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.6.40 / 7.1.26 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An issue was discovered in PHP before 5.6.40, 7.x before 7.1.26, 7.2.x before 7.2.14, and 7.3.x before 7.3.1. Invalid input to the function xmlrpc_decode() can lead to an invalid memory access (heap out of bounds read or read after free). This is related to xml_elem_parse_buf in ext/xmlrpc/libxmlrpc/xml_element.c.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
PHPApplication
Affected:< 5.6.40>= 7.0.0, < 7.1.26>= 7.2.0, < 7.2.14>= 7.3.0, < 7.3.1
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 12.04= 14.04= 16.04
Storage Automation StoreApplication
Affected:all versions
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 42.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.6.40 / 7.1.26 / 7.2.14 or later
Fixed in 5.6.407.1.267.2.14
Vendor patch bugs.php.net →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to PHP 5.6.40 (if on 5.6.x), PHP 7.1.26 (if on 7.0.x-7.1.x), PHP 7.2.14 (if on 7.2.x), or PHP 7.3.1 (if on 7.3.x)

  1. Identify the current PHP version by running 'php -v' or checking the package manager
  2. Determine which major PHP branch you are on (5.6.x, 7.0.x-7.1.x, 7.2.x, or 7.3.x)
  3. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: run 'apt-get update && apt-get install php' (or 'apt-get upgrade php') to fetch the vendor security update
  4. For RHEL/RHEL-based systems: run 'yum update php' or 'dnf update php' to apply vendor security updates
  5. For openSUSE Leap: run 'zypper patch' to apply vendor security updates
  6. For other distributions: compile PHP from source at the fixed version, or wait for vendor security packages
  7. Restart any PHP-FPM, Apache mod_php, or other PHP-running services after the update
  8. Verify the fix by running 'php -v' and confirming the version matches or exceeds the fixed release for your branch
Caveat Major version upgrades (e.g., 5.6 to 7.x) may have backward compatibility breaks; minor version upgrades within the same major version branch are typically safe

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,550. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-9020 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data