The popen API function in TSRM/tsrm_win32.c in PHP before 5.2.11 and 5.3.x before 5.3.1, when running on certain Windows operating systems, allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted (1) e or (2) er string in the second argument (aka mode), possibly related to the _fdopen function in the Microsoft C runtime library. NOTE: this might not cross privilege boundaries except in rare cases in which the mode argument is accessible to an attacker outside of an application that uses the popen function.
The product uses a function that accepts a format string as an argument, but the format string originates from an external source.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Php | Php | 5.2.0 (including) | 5.2.11 (excluding) |
| Php | Php | 5.3.0 (including) | 5.3.1 (excluding) |
When an attacker can modify an externally-controlled format string, this can lead to buffer overflows, denial of service, or data representation problems. It should be noted that in some circumstances, such as internationalization, the set of format strings is externally controlled by design. If the source of these format strings is trusted (e.g. only contained in library files that are only modifiable by the system administrator), then the external control might not itself pose a vulnerability.