Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2010-3870

The utf8_decode function in PHP before 5.3.4 does not properly handle non-shortest form UTF-8 encoding and ill-formed subsequences in UTF-8 data, which makes it easier for remote attackers to bypass cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection protection mechanisms via a crafted string.

Security Impact Summary

CVE-2010-3870 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 2 products from php, from canonical organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2010, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2010-11-12T21:00:02.937

Last Modified

2026-04-29T01:13:23.040

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv2: 6.8 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-20

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	php	php	< 5.2.14	Yes
Application	php	php	< 5.3.4	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	6.06	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	8.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	9.10	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	10.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	10.10	Yes

References

http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=48230 Exploit, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=49687 Exploit, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2011/Mar/msg00006.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2011-January/052836.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2011-January/052845.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-12/msg00000.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=133469208622507&w=2 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/42410 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/42812 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://sirdarckcat.blogspot.com/2009/10/couple-of-unicode-issues-on-php-and.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4581 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://svn.php.net/viewvc?view=revision&revision=304959 Patch, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.utf8-decode.php#83935 Exploit, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.acunetix.com/blog/web-security-articles/security-risks-associated-with-utf8_decode/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-usa-09/VELANAVA/BHUSA09-VelaNava-FavoriteXSS-SLIDES.pdf Exploit, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.mandriva.com/en/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2010:224 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/1 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/11 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/2 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/4 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/6 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/8 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/03/1 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0919.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2011-0195.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/44605 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1024797 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1042-1 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2010/3081 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0020 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0021 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0077 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=48230 Exploit, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=49687 Exploit, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2011/Mar/msg00006.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2011-January/052836.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2011-January/052845.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-12/msg00000.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=133469208622507&w=2 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/42410 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/42812 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://sirdarckcat.blogspot.com/2009/10/couple-of-unicode-issues-on-php-and.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4581 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://svn.php.net/viewvc?view=revision&revision=304959 Patch, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.utf8-decode.php#83935 Exploit, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.acunetix.com/blog/web-security-articles/security-risks-associated-with-utf8_decode/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-usa-09/VELANAVA/BHUSA09-VelaNava-FavoriteXSS-SLIDES.pdf Exploit, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.mandriva.com/en/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2010:224 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/1 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/11 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/2 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/4 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/6 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/02/8 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/11/03/1 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0919.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2011-0195.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/44605 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1024797 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1042-1 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2010/3081 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0020 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0021 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0077 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For php's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.