What is CVE-2020-36388?

CVE-2020-36388 is a high-severity vulnerability in Civicrm, classified under Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2021-06-17.

How severe is CVE-2020-36388?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2020-36388 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Arbitrary file upload in Civicrm

CVE-2020-36388

In CiviCRM before 5.21.3 and 5.22.x through 5.24.x before 5.24.3, users may be able to upload and execute a crafted PHAR archive.

Vulnerability class: Unrestricted File Upload

Published 2021-06-17 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.015 (72.9th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 73rd percentile — 72.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.015 · newest: 0.015 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Civicrm

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-434 — Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

civicrm.org/advisory/civi-sa-2020-03 (Vendor Advisory)
blog.sonarsource.com/civicrm-code-execution-vulnerability-chain-explained/ (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-36388?: CVE-2020-36388 is a high-severity vulnerability in Civicrm, classified under Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2021-06-17.
How severe is CVE-2020-36388?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2020-36388 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.