CVE-2021-41270

CSV Injection in Symfony

MEDIUM
6.5
CVSS Score
Published: November 24, 2021 at 07:05 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 04:08 AM UTC
3 products affected across 3 vendorsFedoraSymfonySymfony

Using symfony by symfony?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect symfony - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
MEDIUM6.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 1%

Description

Symfony/Serializer handles serializing and deserializing data structures for Symfony, a PHP framework for web and console applications and a set of reusable PHP components. Symfony versions 4.1.0 before 4.4.35 and versions 5.0.0 before 5.3.12 are vulnerable to CSV injection, also known as formula injection. In Symfony 4.1, maintainers added the opt-in `csv_escape_formulas` option in the `CsvEncoder`, to prefix all cells starting with `=`, `+`, `-` or `@` with a tab `\t`. Since then, OWASP added 2 chars in that list: Tab (0x09) and Carriage return (0x0D). This makes the previous prefix char (Tab `\t`) part of the vulnerable characters, and OWASP suggests using the single quote `'` for prefixing the value. Starting with versions 4.4.34 and 5.3.12, Symfony now follows the OWASP recommendations and uses the single quote `'` to prefix formulas and add the prefix to cells starting by `\t`, `\r` as well as `=`, `+`, `-` and `@`.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

4.1.0 ≤ v < 4.4.355.0.0 ≤ v < 5.3.12
Affected range stops below 4.4.35, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 5.3.12, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 4.4.35v < 5.3.12
Affected range stops below 4.4.35, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 5.3.12, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

CVSS

6.5MEDIUMGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
NONE
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-1236

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card