Description
PHP_CodeSniffer tokenizes PHP files and detects violations of a defined set of coding standards. Prior to versions 3.13.6 and 4.0.2, PHP_CodeSniffer contains a command injection vulnerability in the code that generates the Gitblame, Hgblame, and Svnblame report formats. As a result, running PHP_CodeSniffer over untrusted files, for example in a continuous integration pipeline that scans pull requests, or on a developer machine reviewing third party code, could result in attacker controlled shell commands being executed when the Gitblame, Hgblame, or Svnblame report processes a file whose name contains shell metacharacters. Users using the default Full report, or any of the other non-blame reports, are not affected. Users on a runtime platform which does not allow filenames to contain shell metacharacters, such as " and ;, are not affected. This issue is fixed in versions 3.13.6 and 4.0.2.
References6
- github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/commit/7a3a6bbf153a03…
- github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/commit/f0e1ebb0563f0e…
- github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/pull/1473
- github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/releases/tag/3.13.6
- github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/releases/tag/4.0.2
- github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/security/advisories/G…
Metrics
- CVSS 4.0
-
7.3
HIGH
Score source: CNA
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - EPSS — exploit probability
- 1% percentile: 65 · as of 12 November 2026
- CWE
- CWE-78
Could this be exploited in your environment?
A patch closes the known hole. A penetration test shows what an attacker can still reach — with proof.