CVE-2025-1219 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting multiple recent versions of PHP (8.1.* before 8.1.32, 8.2.* before 8.2.28, 8.3.* before 8.3.19, and 8.4.* before 8.4.5). The flaw arises when PHP's DOM or SimpleXML extensions request HTTP resources that perform redirects. Specifically, the vulnerability involves the incorrect use of the Content-Type header to determine the character set (charset) of the redirected resource. When a redirect occurs, the PHP extensions use the wrong Content-Type header to infer the charset, which can lead to improper parsing of the resulting XML or HTML document. This misinterpretation can cause the document to be parsed incorrectly or allow bypassing of validation checks that rely on correct charset interpretation. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-1116, which relates to improper handling of character encoding leading to security issues. The CVSS 4.0 base score is 6.3 (medium severity), with attack vector as network (AV:N), high attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), and low impact on confidentiality (VC:L), with no impact on integrity or availability. No known exploits are reported in the wild yet, and no patches are linked in the provided data, suggesting that fixes may be pending or recently released. This vulnerability primarily affects applications that rely on PHP's DOM or SimpleXML extensions to fetch and parse external HTTP resources that may redirect, which is common in web applications consuming external XML or HTML data. Improper charset handling can lead to subtle parsing errors, potentially enabling attackers to craft malicious payloads that bypass input validation or security filters dependent on correct parsing, possibly leading to injection or logic bypass scenarios.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-1219 depends largely on their use of PHP in web applications that consume external HTTP resources via DOM or SimpleXML extensions. Misparsing due to charset confusion can lead to bypassing security validations, increasing the risk of injection attacks or data integrity issues. This could affect sectors with high reliance on PHP-based web services, such as e-commerce, government portals, financial services, and media platforms. Given the medium severity and the lack of known exploits, immediate widespread impact is unlikely; however, targeted attacks exploiting this flaw could compromise data validation processes, potentially leading to unauthorized data manipulation or exposure. Organizations processing multilingual content or relying on external XML feeds are particularly at risk, as charset misinterpretation is more likely in such contexts. The vulnerability could also complicate compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR if it results in data leakage or unauthorized data alteration. Additionally, the flaw might be leveraged in chained attacks combined with other vulnerabilities to escalate impact.

European organizations should promptly audit their PHP environments to identify usage of affected PHP versions (8.1.* before 8.1.32, 8.2.* before 8.2.28, 8.3.* before 8.3.19, and 8.4.* before 8.4.5) and specifically check for applications utilizing DOM or SimpleXML extensions to fetch HTTP resources. Immediate mitigation steps include upgrading PHP to the latest patched versions once available. Until patches are applied, organizations should consider implementing strict input validation and sanitization on all externally fetched XML/HTML content, especially those involving redirects. Where feasible, avoid following HTTP redirects when fetching external resources or implement manual handling of redirects with explicit charset validation. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect anomalous XML payloads or charset inconsistencies. Additionally, monitoring and logging HTTP requests and responses involving external resource fetching can help detect suspicious activity. Developers should review application logic to ensure that charset assumptions are explicit and validated rather than relying on automatic detection. Finally, coordinate with PHP vendors or security mailing lists to obtain and apply official patches promptly.