CVE-2015-5243

CRITICALNVD 9.8

9.8

phpWhois allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted whois record.

CVSS v3: 9.8
EG Score: —
EPSS: 93.6%
KEV: Not listed

Published

August 20, 2018

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

References (12)

secalert@redhathttps://blog.nettitude.com/uk/cve-2015-5243-phpwhois-remote-code-execution
secalert@redhathttps://github.com/Gemorroj/phpwhois/commit/91c937e03c876ba1290b6de2a3ad953d2105fdd0
secalert@redhathttps://github.com/jsmitty12/phpWhois/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md
secalert@redhathttps://github.com/jsmitty12/phpWhois/issues/19
secalert@redhathttps://github.com/sbaresearch/advisories/tree/public/2018/SBA-ADV-20180425-01_phpWhois_Code_Execution
secalert@redhathttps://github.com/sparc/phpWhois.org/commit/5cc572490c9053d46598ec9348a11e36a5a33a46#diff-f150ae17da7341bf6c2eff928684b3a3
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://blog.nettitude.com/uk/cve-2015-5243-phpwhois-remote-code-execution
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/Gemorroj/phpwhois/commit/91c937e03c876ba1290b6de2a3ad953d2105fdd0
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/jsmitty12/phpWhois/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/jsmitty12/phpWhois/issues/19
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/sbaresearch/advisories/tree/public/2018/SBA-ADV-20180425-01_phpWhois_Code_Execution
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/sparc/phpWhois.org/commit/5cc572490c9053d46598ec9348a11e36a5a33a46#diff-f150ae17da7341bf6c2eff928684b3a3

Affected Packages

(9 across 1 ecosystem)

Packagist(9)

Package	Vulnerable range	Fixed in	Dependents
brightlocal/phpwhois	4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5	—	—
david-garcia/phpwhois	4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.3.0, 4.3.1, v4.2.5	—	—
ivankristianto/phpwhois	4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6, v4.3.0	—	—
jsmitty12/phpwhois	4.2.3 ... v5.0.2 (6 versions)	5.1.0	—
kazist/phpwhois	4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6	—	—
phpwhois/phpwhois	4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5	—	—
serluck/phpwhois	4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6	—	—
simple-updates/phpwhois	1.0.0	—	—
truckersmp/phpwhois	4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.3.0, v4.3.1	—	—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

CWE-94Improper Control of Generation of Code (Code Injection)

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 6× in last 30d)

Every time one of our enrichment pipelines (NVD, MITRE cvelistV5, EPSS, CISA KEV, GHSA, OSV, vendor advisories) ran against this CVE. Most recent first.

2026-05-27 13:38 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-27 13:38 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 13:41 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 07:16 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 07:16 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-24 16:43 UTCepss_batch

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2015-5243?

CVE-2015-5243 is a critical vulnerability published on August 20, 2018. phpWhois allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted whois record.

When was CVE-2015-5243 disclosed?

CVE-2015-5243 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 20, 2018, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.

Is CVE-2015-5243 actively exploited?

CVE-2015-5243 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 93.6% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2015-5243?

CVE-2015-5243 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).

How do I remediate CVE-2015-5243?

Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2015-5243, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2015-5243

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