CVE-2012-5159

high

Published 2012-09-25 · Modified 2026-04-29

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CVSS v3

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CVSS v4 NEW

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not yet in upstream

VIR risk

8.5

Description

phpMyAdmin 3.5.2.2, as distributed by the cdnetworks-kr-1 mirror during an unspecified time frame in 2012, contains an externally introduced modification (Trojan Horse) in server_sync.php, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code via an eval injection attack.

Predictions

Exploit likelihood

20%

Patch ETA

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Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.

Mitigations

No mitigations published for this CVE yet.

The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.

✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here with source_tier=community-verified.

Exploits

Public proof-of-concept code below. AS-IS, for defenders and authorised testing only.

Exploit-DB

EDB-21834 webapps php verified

Metasploit · 2012-10-10

phpMyAdmin 3.5.2.2 - 'server_sync.php' Backdoor (Metasploit)

Source code queued for fetch — refresh in a moment.

Metasploit modules

exploit_multi/http/phpmyadmin_3522_backdoor rank 300

phpMyAdmin 3.5.2.2 server_sync.php Backdoor

Source fetch failed: fetch_error — view the original via the link above.

OS impact

Debian Fixed 4 releases

Version	Status	Fixed in
trixie	Fixed	`0`
sid	Fixed	`0`
bullseye	Fixed	`0`
bookworm	Fixed	`0`

Application impact

Vendor	Product	Versions	Fixed
phpmyadmin	phpmyadmin	`3.5.2.2`

References

CWEs

CWE-94

Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.

Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.