CVE-2017-9841

Util/PHP/eval-stdin.php in PHPUnit before 4.8.28 and 5.x before 5.6.3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code via HTTP POST data beginning with a "<?php " substring, as demonstrated by an attack on a site with an exposed /vendor folder, i.e., external access to the /vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Util/PHP/eval-stdin.php URI.

CVSS: 9.8Criticalscored by CISA
Exploited in the wild: Yes, in CISA KEV since 15 Feb 2022CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 15 Aug 2022public exploit code
EPSS: > 99.9%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.1% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
Fix: Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
Published: 27 Jun 2017analysed here 12 Nov 2026

Do first. Apply updates per vendor instructions. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)

Summary

Triage

Attack surface: Server-side
Exploitable: At runtime
Attack vector: network
Weakness: CWE-94 Code Injection
Can a WAF block it?: Partly. See why

The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.

Affected products

Products named in our analysis

phpunit_project:phpunit
oracle:communications_diameter_signaling_router

Fix and mitigation

WAF and other mitigations

Can a WAF block it? Partly. Code injection payloads are often obfuscated, so they slip past generic WAF rules.

Also consider: remove eval sinks · RASP

Based on the weakness type only; no CVE-specific evidence yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.

Remediation steps (AI-written)

Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.

Exploitation evidence

CISA KEV catalog: Listed since 15 Feb 2022.
CISA due date: 15 Aug 2022, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Public exploit code: Yes: 1 on Exploit-DB · 18 GitHub proofs of concept · 1 Nuclei template
CISA SSVC: exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 7 Feb 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.

and 14 more repositories

Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.

Timeline

27 Jun 2017Published
6 Jan 2020First public exploit or proof of concept922 days (about 3 years) later
15 Feb 2022Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)771 days (about 2 years) later
15 Aug 2022CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)181 days (about 6 months) later
7 Feb 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active908 days (about 2 years) later
21 Oct 2025CVE record last updated256 days (about 9 months) later
12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com387 days (about 1 year) later

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Metric	Value	What it means
Attack vector	NetworkReachable over the internet or any routable network.	Reachable over the internet or any routable network.
Attack complexity	LowRepeatable attack, no special conditions.	Repeatable attack, no special conditions.
Privileges required	NoneThe attacker needs no prior access.	The attacker needs no prior access.
User interaction	NoneNo victim action needed.	No victim action needed.
Scope	UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.	Impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality	HighTotal data disclosure possible.	Total data disclosure possible.
Integrity	HighComplete modification possible.	Complete modification possible.
Availability	HighFull outage possible.	Full outage possible.

Common questions

Is CVE-2017-9841 being exploited?

Yes. CVE-2017-9841 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.

How severe is CVE-2017-9841?

CVE-2017-9841 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2017-9841?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2017-9841. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2017-9841 affect?

CVE-2017-9841 affects phpunit_project:phpunit, oracle:communications_diameter_signaling_router. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

References

NVD CVE.org CVE Details Source

8 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.

Advisories (1)

security.gentoo.org /glsa/201711-15

Where the data on this page comes from

CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
NVD: CVSS and CPE data
CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
Exploit-DB: published exploits
Nuclei templates: detection templates
PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept

Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.

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