⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 7.5

How to Fix CVE-2026-40902: Denial of Service in PhpSpreadsheet

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 7.5 - High
Actively exploited?Not currently listed in CISA KEV
Affected< 1.30.4, >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.16, >= 2.2.0, < 2.4.5, >= 3.3.0, < 3.10.5, >= 4.0.0, < 5.7.0
Fixed in1.30.4
Type (CWE)CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

What is CVE-2026-40902?

CVE-2026-40902 is a denial of service flaw in PhpSpreadsheet. A crafted request triggers a code path that crashes or hangs the service, taking the product offline for legitimate users. Vendor description: PhpSpreadsheet is a pure PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Prior to 1.30.4, 2.1.16, 2.4.5, 3.10.5, and 5.7.0, the XLSX reader's ColumnAndRowAttributes::readRowAttributes() method reads row numbers from XML attributes without validating them against the spreadsheet maximum row limit (AddressRange::MAX_ROW = 1, 048, 576).

Why this CVE matters

Denial-of-service flaws in a network gateway or firewall have an outsize operational impact. A single packet that reboots an inline device takes down everything behind it, which is why even non-RCE bugs on these products warrant priority patching.

For deployments of PhpSpreadsheet that have been exposed to the public internet during the disclosure window, the operating assumption should be that scanning has already happened. Even where exploitation has not been publicly observed, scanning for the vulnerable fingerprint is cheap and routine. Patching closes the door; log review and credential rotation close out the rest of the response.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation matches any of these version ranges:

Check your installed version against the list above. If you cannot determine the version, treat the system as affected and follow the upgrade path below.

Run php -v to read the installed PHP version and confirm whether it is in the affected range.

How to fix CVE-2026-40902

  1. Read the vendor advisory in full: https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/security/advisories/GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m
  2. Upgrade PhpSpreadsheet to the patched build listed in the vendor advisory.
  3. Back up the configuration (and database, where applicable) before upgrading.
  4. Apply the patch in a maintenance window. For HA pairs, upgrade the standby node first, fail over, then upgrade the former primary.
  5. Restart the affected service so the patched binary loads, then verify the new version (see verification section).

Update the Composer / PHP package


# CVE-2026-40902 affects PhpSpreadsheet < 1.30.4. Fixed in 1.30.4.
# Vendor advisory: https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/security/advisories/GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m

# 1. Show the currently resolved version.
composer show phpoffice/phpspreadsheet

# 2. Upgrade to the patched release named in the advisory.
composer require phpoffice/phpspreadsheet:^1.30.4
composer update phpoffice/phpspreadsheet

# 3. Verify.
composer show phpoffice/phpspreadsheet


# PHP runtime on Debian / Ubuntu.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade php
php -v

Verify the fix landed


# CVE-2026-40902 verification checklist.

# 1. Confirm the running version matches 1.30.4 (replace the version probe with
#    the platform-specific command shown above).

# 2. Re-scan the host with your vulnerability scanner (Nessus, Qualys, Tenable,
#    OpenVAS, Wazuh). The scanner must no longer flag CVE-2026-40902.

# 3. Inspect recent service and kernel logs for crash-loops or rollback events.
journalctl -u <service-name> --since "10 minutes ago"
dmesg --since "10 minutes ago"

# 4. Cross-check the running build against the vendor advisory:
#    https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/security/advisories/GHSA-7c6m-4442-2x6m

If you cannot patch immediately

Front the service with rate limiting and drop malformed packets at a load balancer or IPS. Patch to remove the underlying crash condition.

How to verify the fix worked

If your installation was internet-reachable during the disclosure window, treat log review as part of the remediation rather than an optional follow-up. Look for repeated service restarts, crash logs from the affected daemon, and core files generated around the time of any anomalous traffic. A memory-corruption flaw used for exploitation often leaves a trail of failed attempts before the successful one.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2026-40902 being exploited in the wild?

Public exploitation has not been confirmed by CISA at the time of writing. Treat the patch as time-sensitive anyway; reports often lag actual abuse.

Will a WAF or IDS rule fully mitigate CVE-2026-40902?

No. Network-layer filters can reduce noise and slow opportunistic scanners, but they will not stop a determined attacker. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

How long should I plan for the upgrade?

Typical vendor-documented upgrade windows for PhpSpreadsheet run from a few minutes to under an hour depending on cluster size. Test in a staging environment first and follow the vendor's documented HA upgrade order.

References

*This guide was assembled from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV catalog entry on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*