Medium severity · published May 6, 2026
CVE-2026-40296
PhpSpreadsheet vulnerable to XSS in HTML writer via custom number format codes
5.4
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
PhpSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. The HTML writer skips htmlspecialchars escaping when a cell's formatted value differs from the original value. When a cell has a custom number format containing the text placeholder @ along with any additional literal characters (for example ". @", "@ ", or "x@"), the formatter replaces @ with the cell value and adds the extra characters, causing the formatted value to differ from the original and bypassing HTML escaping entirely. An attacker who can control the cell value and number format of an uploaded spreadsheet that is later converted to HTML and displayed to other users can achieve stored cross-site scripting. This issue is fixed in versions 5.7.0, 3.10.5, 2.4.5, 2.1.16, and 1.30.4.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 13% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
PH
PhpSpreadsheet · PHPOffice
>= 4.0.0, <= 5.6.0; >= 3.3.0, <= 3.10.4; >= 2.2.0, <= 2.4.4; >= 2.0.0, <= 2.1.15; <= 1.30.3 · source: vendor, NVD
Affected product
PH
PhpSpreadsheet
PHPOffice
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