CVE-2026-45034

CVE-2026-45034 is a critical-severity vulnerability with a CVSS 4.0 base score of 9.2. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-502.

Key facts

Description

PhpSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Prior to 1.30.5, CVE-2026-34084 was patched by the helper File::prohibitWrappers. The helper calls parse_url($filename, PHP_URL_SCHEME) and then checks is_string($scheme) && strlen($scheme) > 1 to reject stream wrappers such as phar://, php://, data:// or expect://. The check is not equivalent to "does the path contain a wrapper". When the input has the form phar:///path/file.phar/inner with three or more slashes after the scheme, parse_url returns boolean false instead of returning the scheme string. The is_string($scheme) branch is therefore skipped, the helper returns without throwing, and the caller proceeds. PHP's stream layer, however, still treats phar:///... as a valid phar wrapper and opens the underlying phar file. The result is that IOFactory::load($attackerPath) walks past the patch and still touches the phar wrapper. On PHP 7.x, simply reaching the phar wrapper via is_file is enough for PHP to automatically deserialize the phar metadata, which in turn invokes the magic methods __wakeup and __destruct of an attacker controlled object and gives full RCE. On PHP 8.x, automatic metadata deserialization for plain file ops was removed, so the chain at the PhpSpreadsheet layer reduces to a phar wrapper file read primitive, and RCE only resurfaces if the downstream consumer ever calls Phar::getMetadata. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.30.5.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-45034?
PhpSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Prior to 1.30.5, CVE-2026-34084 was patched by the helper File::prohibitWrappers. The helper calls parse_url($filename, PHP_URL_SCHEME) and then checks is_string($scheme) && strlen($scheme) > 1 to reject stream wrappers such as phar://, php://, data:// or expect://. The check is not equivalent to "does the path contain a wrapper". When the input has the form phar:///path/file.phar/inner with three or more slashes after the scheme, parse_url returns boolean false instead of returning the scheme string. The is_string($scheme) branch is therefore skipped, the helper returns without throwing, and the caller proceeds. PHP's stream layer, however, still treats phar:///... as a valid phar wrapper and opens the underlying phar file. The result is that IOFactory::load($attackerPath) walks past the patch and still touches the phar wrapper. On PHP 7.x, simply reaching the phar wrapper via is_file is enough for PHP to automatically deserialize the phar metadata, which in turn invokes the magic methods __wakeup and __destruct of an attacker controlled object and gives full RCE. On PHP 8.x, automatic metadata deserialization for plain file ops was removed, so the chain at the PhpSpreadsheet layer reduces to a phar wrapper file read primitive, and RCE only resurfaces if the downstream consumer ever calls Phar::getMetadata. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.30.5.
How severe is CVE-2026-45034?
CVE-2026-45034 has a CVSS 4.0 base score of 9.2, rated critical severity.
Is CVE-2026-45034 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (27th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-45034?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
Does CVE-2026-45034 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2026-45034 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2026-38359.
When was CVE-2026-45034 published?
CVE-2026-45034 was published on 2026-06-22 and last updated on 2026-06-23.

References

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