SimpleSAMLphp Use of insecure connection charset (sqlauth module)

published 2018-02-02 8 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also GHSA-qv5p-6wrc-79wg , EUVD-2022-5030

cvss: 9.8; version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 3.1%; EPSS 3.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 87%
public exploits: 0; none known

The sqlauth module in SimpleSAMLphp before 1.15.2 relies on the MySQL utf8 charset, which truncates queries upon encountering four-byte characters. There might be a scenario in which this allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions.

Patch / fix

fixed in 2 distros 1

packagist simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp 1.15.2
simplesamlphp simplesamlphp 1.15.2

simplesamlphp Debian 14, Debian 12 1.15.2-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2018-6521

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2018-6521 updated 2026-01-13 cvss 6.3

php-simplesamlphp-saml2: insecure connection charset in sqlauth module

Red Hat All currently supported Red Hat products
not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

3.05% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 87% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

lists.debian.org https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/02/msg00008.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.0	9.8	CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	2.0	7.5	AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
GitHub	3.0	9.8	CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem	package	affected	fixed in
packagist	simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp	<1.15.2	1.15.2

References

lists.debian.org /debian-lts-announce/2018/02/msg00008.html
mailing-list, web, exploit, third-party-advisory
debian.org /security/2018/dsa-4127
vendor-advisory, web, third-party-advisory
simplesamlphp.org /security/201801-03
web, vendor-advisory
nvd.nist.gov /vuln/detail/CVE-2018-6521
advisory
github.com /FriendsOfPHP/security-advisories/blob/master/simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp/CVE-2018-6521.yaml
web
github.com /simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp
package

Sources

CVE List CVE-2018-6521
GitHub Advisory GHSA-qv5p-6wrc-79wg
NVD CVE-2018-6521

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary