KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2012-1823

PHP

PHP / PHP

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Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
100.0%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2012-1823 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting PHP PHP. sapi/cgi/cgi_main.c in PHP before 5.3.12 and 5.4.x before 5.4.2, when configured as a CGI script (aka php-cgi), does not properly handle query...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

PHP / PHP.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

PHP

sapi/cgi/cgi_main.c in PHP before 5.3.12 and 5.4.x before 5.4.2, when configured as a CGI script (aka php-cgi), does not properly handle query strings that lack an = (equals sign) character, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by placing command-line options in the query string, related to lack of skipping a certain php_getopt for the 'd' case.

View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
11 May 2012
Exploitation Reported
25 Mar 2022
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

metasploit php cisa nuclei_scanner

CVE References

  • CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-1823
  • SSRT100856 marc.info · Vendor Advisory http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=134012830914727&w=2
  • SUSE-SU-2012:0604 lists.opensuse.org · Vendor Advisory http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-05/msg00011...
  • HPSBMU02786 h20000.www2.hp.com · Vendor Advisory http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectI...
  • MDVSA-2012:068 mandriva.com · Vendor Advisory http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2012:068
  • openSUSE-SU-2012:0590 lists.opensuse.org · Vendor Advisory http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-05/msg00002...
  • RHSA-2012:0546 rhn.redhat.com · Vendor Advisory http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-0546.html
  • RHSA-2012:0568 rhn.redhat.com · Vendor Advisory http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-0568.html
  • RHSA-2012:0569 rhn.redhat.com · Vendor Advisory http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-0569.html
  • RHSA-2012:0570 rhn.redhat.com · Vendor Advisory http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-0570.html
  • SUSE-SU-2012:0598 lists.opensuse.org · Vendor Advisory http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-05/msg00007...
  • RHSA-2012:0547 rhn.redhat.com · Vendor Advisory http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-0547.html
  • APPLE-SA-2012-09-19-2 lists.apple.com · Vendor Advisory http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2012/Sep/msg00004.html
  • DSA-2465 debian.org · Vendor Advisory http://www.debian.org/security/2012/dsa-2465
  • FEDORA-2024-49aba7b305 lists.fedoraproject.org · Vendor Advisory https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40list...
  • FEDORA-2024-52c23ef1ec lists.fedoraproject.org · Vendor Advisory https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40list...
  • 49014 secunia.com · Third-Party Advisory http://secunia.com/advisories/49014
  • VU#673343 kb.cert.org · Third-Party Advisory http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/673343
  • 49065 secunia.com · Third-Party Advisory http://secunia.com/advisories/49065
  • VU#520827 kb.cert.org · Third-Party Advisory http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/520827
  • 49085 secunia.com · Third-Party Advisory http://secunia.com/advisories/49085
  • 49087 secunia.com · Third-Party Advisory http://secunia.com/advisories/49087
  • 1027022 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1027022
  • [oss-security] 20240606 PHP security releases 8.3.8, 8.2.20, and 8.1.29 openwall.com · Mailing List http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/06/07/1
  • php.net/ChangeLog-5.php php.net · CVE Record http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.4.2
  • bugs.php.net/bug.php bugs.php.net · CVE Record https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=61910
  • support.apple.com/kb/HT5501 support.apple.com · CVE Record http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5501
  • eindbazen.net/2012/05/php-cgi-advisory-cve-2012-1823 eindbazen.net · CVE Record http://eindbazen.net/2012/05/php-cgi-advisory-cve-2012-1823/
  • bugs.php.net/patch-display.php bugs.php.net · CVE Record https://bugs.php.net/patch-display.php?bug_id=61910&patch=cgi.diff&re...
  • php.net/archive/2012.php php.net · CVE Record http://www.php.net/archive/2012.php#id2012-05-03-1

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 25 Mar 2022

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 08 Sep 2015

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2022-03-25 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
0
User-Agents
0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2012/CVE-2012-1823.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

100.0%

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') CWE-77

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 7.5 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

PHP CGI v5.3.12/5.4.2 Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

php_cgi_arg_injection

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2012-1823

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  2. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  4. Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  5. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  6. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2012-1823

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2012-1823",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99998,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

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