VulnerabilityPublished 30 May 2025

CVE-2025-48882: PHPOffice Math · XML External Entity (XXE)

Affects PHPOffice MathSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.7 High : upgrade to 0.3.0 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

8.7High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 42% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 0.3.0

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all information within the Vulnerable System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 May 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade phpoffice/Math to 0.3.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubphpoffice/Math`pkg:github/phpoffice/Math`Other threats	Affected <0.3.0	Fixed in 0.3.0

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately audit their use of PHPOffice Math and identify any deployments running versions prior to 0.3.0. The primary mitigation is to upgrade to version 0.3.0 or later, which contains the fix for this XXE vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, organizations should implement strict input validation and sanitization to reject XML inputs containing external entity declarations or DTDs. Additionally, configuring the libxml parser to disable DTD loading and external entity resolution (e.g., by omitting LIBXML_DTDLOAD or using LIBXML_NONET flags) can mitigate exploitation risk. Employing Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block malicious XML payloads can provide an additional layer of defense. Regular security testing, including static and dynamic analysis of XML processing components, should be conducted to detect similar vulnerabilities. Finally, monitoring logs for unusual XML parsing errors or unexpected outbound requests can help identify exploitation attempts early.

Description

PHPOffice Math is a library that provides a set of classes to manipulate different formula file formats. Prior to version 0.3.0, loading XML data using the standard `libxml` extension and the `LIBXML_DTDLOAD` flag without additional filtration, leads to XXE. Version 0.3.0 fixes the vulnerability.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-48882 can be substantial, especially for those relying on PHPOffice Math in web applications, document processing systems, or any service that parses formula files in XML format. Successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive internal files or data, potentially exposing intellectual property, personal data protected under GDPR, or internal network details. Additionally, attackers could leverage SSRF capabilities to pivot into internal networks, increasing the risk of lateral movement and further compromise. Denial of service attacks could disrupt critical business operations, affecting availability. Given the high CVSS score and the lack of required authentication, the vulnerability poses a significant threat to confidentiality and availability, which are critical for compliance and operational continuity in European enterprises. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, research, and government, where formula processing and document manipulation are common, may be particularly at risk.

CWE-611Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A02:2025: Security Misconfiguration (opens in a new tab)
The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.
Implementation · System Configuration
Many XML parsers and validators can be configured to disable external entity expansion.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.5.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Data Serialization External Entities Blowup (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 8 Jul 2025, 13:43 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-611

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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