CVE-2020-5226Network attack vector

Administrator phishing via unescaped error-report email template

Published Jan 24, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Cross-site scripting in SimpleSAMLphp 1.18.0 through 1.18.3 allows remote authenticated users to inject HTML into administrator emails. The www/errorreport.php path passes a manually crafted free-text field into the legacy plain-PHP email template without escaping it. The attacker must submit an error report and the administrator must interact with the rendered message; the documented consequence is credential phishing, while JavaScript execution is generally blocked by email clients.

CVSS severity4.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.54%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Cross-site scripting in SimpleSAMLphp 1.18.0 through 1.18.3 allows remote authenticated users to inject HTML into administrator emails. The www/errorreport.php path passes a manually crafted free-text field into the legacy plain-PHP email template without escaping it. The attacker must submit an error report and the administrator must interact with the rendered message; the documented consequence is credential phishing, while JavaScript execution is generally blocked by email clients.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-5226
Published
Jan 24, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
SimpleSAMLphp
Product
SimpleSAMLphp
Classifications
CWE-79, T1190, T1566.002
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 24, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 1.18.0, < 1.18.4

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

SimpleSAMLphp · SimpleSAMLphpversion=>= 1.18.0, < 1.18.4

Published CVSS scores

4.4GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
5.4NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
3.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application
T1566.002Spearphishing Link

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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