Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This PHP flaw can make older PHP runtimes crash or expose limited information when the PHAR extension processes a malicious PHAR file. Business risk is mainly service disruption or minor data leakage in systems still running vulnerable PHP 7.2, 7.3, or 7.4 builds.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate maintenance and exposure-reduction item, not an emergency based on the supplied evidence. Patch legacy PHP assets during the next security update window, sooner for internet-facing systems processing uploaded archives.
Technical view
CVE-2020-7068 is a CWE-416 use-after-free in PHP's phar_parse_zipfile function. Affected versions are PHP 7.2.x before 7.2.33, 7.3.x before 7.3.21, and 7.4.x before 7.4.9. CVSS 3.1 is 4.8 with network vector, high complexity, no privileges, and low confidentiality and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on legacy PHP servers, containers, appliances, or bundled products that enable the PHAR extension and process PHAR or ZIP-backed PHAR content. Distribution backports may mean version strings need vendor-specific confirmation.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Public descriptions support possible crash or information disclosure only. Exploitation appears constrained by high attack complexity and requires PHAR processing to reach the vulnerable parser.
Researcher notes
The key evidence is the affected PHP version range, CWE-416 classification, and impact of crash or information disclosure. The source bundle does not include exploit details, proof-of-concept status, or complete downstream product impact, so validate against vendor advisories and local package metadata.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade PHP to 7.2.33, 7.3.21, 7.4.9, or later supported releases.
- Apply relevant vendor or distribution security updates for PHP packages.
- Check Gentoo, Debian, NetApp, and scanner vendor guidance for backported fixes.
- Reduce or restrict processing of untrusted PHAR files where operationally feasible.
- Prioritize replacement of end-of-life PHP runtimes in internet-facing services.
Validation and detection
- Inventory PHP versions across hosts, containers, appliances, and build images.
- Confirm whether the PHAR extension is enabled and used by applications.
- Verify package changelogs for backported CVE-2020-7068 fixes.
- Review scanners for PHP findings and correlate with vendor package status.
- Identify routes or workflows that accept archive-like content for backend processing.
Public sources used
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-416: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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 lookupCVE-2020-7068 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
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.
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:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L2.22.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.8MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=79797CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- GLSA-202009-10CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200918-0005/CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- DSA-4856CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
- https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2021-14CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
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.
Use After Free
Use After Free represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.