CVE-2010-2531

Severity: medium (CVSS 4.3 v2.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 5.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2010-08-20 · updated 2026-06-16
Weakness: CWE-200

Description

The var_export function in PHP 5.2 before 5.2.14 and 5.3 before 5.3.3 flushes the output buffer to the user when certain fatal errors occur, even if display_errors is off, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information by causing the application to exceed limits for memory, execution time, or recursion.

Affected products

Debian Linux: 5.0, 6.0
PHP: from 5.2.0 before 5.2.14; from 5.3.0 before 5.3.3 — fixed in 5.2.14, 5.3.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: PHP 5.2.14, 5.3.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2010//Aug/msg00003.html
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2010//Nov/msg00000.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-09/msg00006.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-10/msg00000.html
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=130331363227777&w=2
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=133469208622507&w=2
http://secunia.com/advisories/42410
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4312
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4435
http://svn.php.net/viewvc/php/php-src/trunk/ext/standard/tests/general_functions/var_export_error2.phpt?view=log&pathrev=301143
http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2266
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/07/13/1

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