Description
Symfony/Serializer handles serializing and deserializing data structures for Symfony, a PHP framework for web and console applications and a set of reusable PHP components. Symfony versions 4.1.0 before 4.4.35 and versions 5.0.0 before 5.3.12 are vulnerable to CSV injection, also known as formula injection. In Symfony 4.1, maintainers added the opt-in `csv_escape_formulas` option in the `CsvEncoder`, to prefix all cells starting with `=`, `+`, `-` or `@` with a tab `\t`. Since then, OWASP added 2 chars in that list: Tab (0x09) and Carriage return (0x0D). This makes the previous prefix char (Tab `\t`) part of the vulnerable characters, and OWASP suggests using the single quote `'` for prefixing the value. Starting with versions 4.4.34 and 5.3.12, Symfony now follows the OWASP recommendations and uses the single quote `'` to prefix formulas and add the prefix to cells starting by `\t`, `\r` as well as `=`, `+`, `-` and `@`.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| symfony | symfony | >= 4.1.0, < 4.4.35, >= 5.0.0, < 5.3.12 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | symfony | 4.4.19+dfsg-3 | — |
| Debian 13 | symfony | 4.4.19+dfsg-3 | — |
| Debian 12 | symfony | 4.4.19+dfsg-3 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | symfony | 4.3.8+dfsg-1ubuntu1+esm1 | USN-5290-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | symfony | 3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1+esm2 | USN-5290-1 |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packagist | symfony/serializer | >= 5.0.0, < 5.3.12 | 5.3.12 | GHSA-2xhg-w2g5-w95x |
| Packagist | symfony/serializer | >= 4.1.0, < 4.4.35 | 4.4.35 | GHSA-2xhg-w2g5-w95x |
| Packagist | symfony/symfony | >= 4.1.0, < 4.4.35 | 4.4.35 | GHSA-2xhg-w2g5-w95x |
| Packagist | symfony/symfony | >= 5.0.0, < 5.3.12 | 5.3.12 | GHSA-2xhg-w2g5-w95x |
Advisories 1
- USN-5290-1 symfony vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Feb 10, 2026
References
- https://github.com/symfony/symfony/pull/44243
- https://github.com/symfony/symfony/releases/tag/v5.3.12
- https://github.com/symfony/symfony/security/advisories/GHSA-2xhg-w2g5-w95x
- https://github.com/symfony/symfony/commit/3da6f2d45e7536ccb2a26f52fbaf340917e208a8
- FEDORA-2021-0294e8ca24 vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2021-10fd47b32d vendor-advisory