CVE-2026-41570

PHPUnit: Argument injection via newline in PHP INI values forwarded to child processes

Published May 8, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 7.8 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
PHPUnit is a testing framework for PHP. In versions 12.5.21 and 13.1.5, PHPUnit forwards PHP INI settings to child processes (used for isolated/PHPT test execution) as -d name=value command-line arguments without neutralizing INI metacharacters. Because PHP's INI parser interprets " as a string delimiter, ; as the start of a comment, and most importantly a newline as a directive separator, a value containing a newline is parsed by the child process as multiple INI directives. An attacker able to influence a single INI value can therefore inject arbitrary additional directives into the child's configuration, including auto_prepend_file, extension, disable_functions, open_basedir, and others. Setting auto_prepend_file to an attacker-controlled path yields remote code execution in the child process. This issue has been patched in versions 12.5.22 and 13.1.6.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-qrr6-mg7r-m243 PHPUnit has Argument injection via newline in PHP INI values that are forwarded to child processes
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Phpunit Project
Phpunit Project phpunit
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:phpunit_project:phpunit:12.5.21:*:*:*:*:-:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:phpunit_project:phpunit:13.1.5:*:*:*:*:-:*:*
Vendors & Products Phpunit Project
Phpunit Project phpunit
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Sebastianbergmann
Sebastianbergmann phpunit
Vendors & Products Sebastianbergmann
Sebastianbergmann phpunit
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description PHPUnit is a testing framework for PHP. In versions 12.5.21 and 13.1.5, PHPUnit forwards PHP INI settings to child processes (used for isolated/PHPT test execution) as -d name=value command-line arguments without neutralizing INI metacharacters. Because PHP's INI parser interprets " as a string delimiter, ; as the start of a comment, and most importantly a newline as a directive separator, a value containing a newline is parsed by the child process as multiple INI directives. An attacker able to influence a single INI value can therefore inject arbitrary additional directives into the child's configuration, including auto_prepend_file, extension, disable_functions, open_basedir, and others. Setting auto_prepend_file to an attacker-controlled path yields remote code execution in the child process. This issue has been patched in versions 12.5.22 and 13.1.6.
Title PHPUnit: Argument injection via newline in PHP INI values forwarded to child processes
Weaknesses CWE-88
CWE-93
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
May 8, 2026, 4:01 PM
Reserved
Apr 21, 2026, 2:15 PM
Status
Analyzed
Published
May 8, 2026, 3:16 PM
Modified
Oct 26, 2026, 6:10 PM