CVE-2015-5243

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 9.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 11.1%, top 6% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, nvd
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 6%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EPSS
92.7%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 20, 2018

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

Advisory Details (5)

Auto-updated Jun 13, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available. Sources: github_commit.
generic

CVE-2015-5243: Remote Code Execution · Issue #19 · jsmitty12/phpWhois · GitHub

https://github.com/jsmitty12/phpWhois/issues/19
generic

phpWhois/CHANGELOG.md at master · jsmitty12/phpWhois · GitHub

https://github.com/jsmitty12/phpWhois/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md
github_commit

commit 91c937e03c87 (Gemorroj/phpwhois)

Fix landed in Gemorroj/phpwhois commit 91c937e03c87 — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/Gemorroj/phpwhois/commit/91c937e03c876ba1290b6de2a3ad953d2105fdd0
github_commit

commit 5cc572490c90 (sparc/phpWhois.org)

Fix landed in sparc/phpWhois.org commit 5cc572490c90 — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/sparc/phpWhois.org/commit/5cc572490c9053d46598ec9348a11e36a5a33a46#diff-f150ae17da7341bf6c2eff928684b3a3
generic Patch Available🟡 PoC Available

advisories/2018/SBA-ADV-20180425-01_phpWhois_Code_Execution at public · sbaresearch/advisories · GitHub

https://github.com/sbaresearch/advisories/tree/public/2018/SBA-ADV-20180425-01_phpWhois_Code_Execution

Affected Packages

(9 across 1 ecosystem)
Packagist(9)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
brightlocal/phpwhois4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5——
david-garcia/phpwhois4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.3.0, 4.3.1, v4.2.5——
ivankristianto/phpwhois4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6, v4.3.0——
jsmitty12/phpwhois4.2.3 ... v5.0.2 (6 versions)5.1.0—
kazist/phpwhois4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6——
phpwhois/phpwhois4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5——
serluck/phpwhois4.2.3, 4.2.4, v4.2.5, v4.2.6——
simple-updates/phpwhois1.0.0——
truckersmp/phpwhois4.2.3, 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.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 41× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-12 05:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-11 08:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-09 19:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-09 19:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 43 more
  1. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-10 13:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-05-28 03:55 UTCEG score recompute
  38. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore

Related CVEs(same CWE)

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 92.7% 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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