CVE-2016-10074

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 9.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 41.8%, top 1% 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
Trending — 3 sources updated this weekElevated
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 42%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

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

The mail transport (aka Swift_Transport_MailTransport) in Swift Mailer before 5.4.5 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute arbitrary code via a \" (backslash double quote) in a crafted e-mail address in the (1) From, (2) ReturnPath, or (3) Sender header.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EG Risk
65(Track*)
EG Risk 65/100SSVC: Track*

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation42% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Watch closely — could escalate to Attend.
EPSS
98.5%
KEV
Not listed

Published

December 30, 2016

Last Modified

May 6, 2026

Advisory Details (9)

Auto-updated May 9, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available.
generic

Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140290/SwiftMailer-Remote-Code-Execution.html
generic🟡 PoC Available

PHPMailer < 5.2.20 with Exim MTA - Remote Code Execution - PHP webapps Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42221/
generic🟡 PoC Available

PHPMailer < 5.2.20 / SwiftMailer < 5.4.5-DEV / Zend Framework / zend-mail < 2.4.11 - 'AIO' 'PwnScriptum' Remote Code Execution - PHP webapps Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40986/
generic🟡 PoC Available

SwiftMailer < 5.4.5-DEV - Remote Code Execution - PHP webapps Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40972/
generic🟡 PoC Available

SwiftMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10074-Vuln

https://legalhackers.com/advisories/SwiftMailer-Exploit-Remote-Code-Exec-CVE-2016-10074-Vuln.html
generic

swiftmailer/CHANGES at 5.x · swiftmailer/swiftmailer · GitHub

https://github.com/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/blob/5.x/CHANGES
generic
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95140
generic Patch Available

[SECURITY] [DSA 3769-1] libphp-swiftmailer security update

http://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3769
generic

Full Disclosure: SwiftMailer <= 5.4.5-DEV Remote Code Execution (CVE-2016-10074)

http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/86

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)
Packagist(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
swiftmailer/swiftmailer4.1.3 ... v5.4.4 (26 versions)5.4.5—

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 13× in last 7d / 36× 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. 2026-07-25 01:41 UTCOSV refresh
  2. 2026-07-24 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-23 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-23 01:21 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-07-23 00:22 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-07-22 22:00 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-07-22 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-20 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-18 10:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-07-15 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-13 22:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-13 22:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-12 05:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-11 08:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-09 19:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-09 19:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-07 20:41 UTCOSV refresh
Show 54 more
  1. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-19 08:25 UTCOSV refresh
  20. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-10 13:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-30 18:23 UTCOSV refresh
  45. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-05-19 00:49 UTCEG score recompute
  53. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(3 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (3 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-42221
    First seen Jun 21, 2017

    PHPMailer < 5.2.20 with Exim MTA - Remote Code Execution

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-40986
    First seen Jan 2, 2017

    PHPMailer < 5.2.20 / SwiftMailer < 5.4.5-DEV / Zend Framework / zend-mail < 2.4.11 - 'AIO' 'PwnScriptum' Remote Code Execution

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-40972
    First seen Dec 28, 2016

    SwiftMailer < 5.4.5-DEV - Remote Code Execution

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2016-10074?
CVE-2016-10074 is a critical vulnerability published on December 30, 2016. The mail transport (aka SwiftTransportMailTransport) in Swift Mailer before 5.4.5 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute arbitrary code via a \" (backslash double quote) in a crafted e-mail address in the (1) From, (2) ReturnPath, or (3)…
When was CVE-2016-10074 disclosed?
CVE-2016-10074 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on December 30, 2016, with the most recent update on May 6, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2016-10074 actively exploited?
CVE-2016-10074 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 98.5% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-10074?
CVE-2016-10074 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2016-10074?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2016-10074, 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.

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