sebastianbergmann phpunit 12.5.21/13.1.5 INI Parser auto_prepend_file crlf injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in sebastianbergmann phpunit 12.5.21/13.1.5. Affected by this issue is the function auto_prepend_file of the component INI Parser. Executing a manipulation can lead to crlf injection. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-41570. It is possible to launch the attack on the local host. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in sebastianbergmann phpunit 12.5.21/13.1.5. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function auto_prepend_file of the component INI Parser. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a crlf injection vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-93. The product uses CRLF (carriage return line feeds) as a special element, e.g. to separate lines or records, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes CRLF sequences from inputs. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

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.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-41570 since 04/21/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 313605 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-41570), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 12.5.21, 12.5.22, 13.1.5 or 13.1.6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (313605). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Vendor

• sebastianbergmann

Name

• phpunit

Version

• 12.5.21
• 13.1.5

Website

• Product: https://github.com/sebastianbergmann/phpunit/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Discussion