Security readout for executives and security teams
PHPMailer before 5.2.18 can let an unauthenticated remote attacker turn crafted email-sender input into operating-system command execution when an application uses PHPMailer’s mail/sendmail path. Business urgency is highest for public PHP sites, CMS features, contact forms, and account workflows that send email through an old bundled PHPMailer copy. Most likely exposure is PHP web applications, CMS plugins or themes, and vendor packages using PHPMailer before 5.2.18, especially contact, registration, password-reset, ticketing, and notification features. The bundle does not provide CPEs, so exposure requires dependency and bundled-library inspection. Treat as urgent if any internet-facing PHP application sends email with legacy PHPMailer. KEV and public exploit references make this unsuitable for normal backlog handling. Priority is inventory, patching, and confirming no old bundled copy remains in production. Mitigation focus: Upgrade PHPMailer to 5.2.18 or later; prefer a currently supported branch where feasible.; Patch applications that bundle PHPMailer, including CMS distributions, extensions, plugins, and vendor packages.; Identify mail-sending forms using PHP mail or sendmail transport and prioritize them for update..
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-88: Command execution behavior lookup
Command injection weaknesses can lead defenders to review execution techniques and command interpreter telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2016-10033 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CISA KEV status
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.8CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.drupal.org/psa-2016-004CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- 42221CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- 40969CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- 41962CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- 40968CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- https://legalhackers.com/advisories/PHPMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10033-Vuln.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases/tag/v5.2.18CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/About-the-CVE-2016-10033-and-CVE-2016-10045-vulnerabilitiesCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- 40974CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- 40986CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- 40970CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- 41996CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/668-20161205-phpmailer-security-advisory.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- 42024CVE reference · exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2016-10033CVE reference · government-resource
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')
Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.