CVE-2021-41270

/// Technical 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 `@`.

/// Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

/// References