CVE-2026-46633: Twig: PHP code injection via `{% use %}` template name
Description Compiler::string() escapes ", $, \, NUL and TAB when generating PHP double-quoted string literals, but does not escape single quotes. In ModuleNode::compileConstructor(), the template name from a {% use %} tag is compiled via subcompile() - string() and placed inside a surrounding PHP single-quoted string literal.
Published May 21, 2026
Affected packages
twig/twig
- Ecosystem
- Composer (PHP)
- Affected
- < 3.26.0
- Fixed in
- 3.26.0
- Check
composer show twig/twig
Advisory details
From the GitHub Advisory Database (CC BY 4.0).
Description
Compiler::string() escapes ", $, \, NUL and TAB when generating PHP double-quoted string literals, but does not escape single quotes. In ModuleNode::compileConstructor(), the template name from a {% use %} tag is compiled via subcompile() -> string() and placed inside a surrounding PHP single-quoted string literal. A template name containing a single quote terminates that surrounding string early, allowing arbitrary PHP expressions to be injected into the compiled cache file.
The injected code executes within the PHP process when the cache file is first loaded, bypassing the Twig sandbox entirely and achieving remote code execution. SecurityPolicy unconditionally allows {% use %} regardless of the configured allowedTags, so this primitive is reachable from sandboxed templates as well.
Resolution
Compiler::string() now also escapes single quotes so that template names placed inside single-quoted PHP literals can no longer break out of the surrounding context.
Credits
Twig would like to thank Anvil Secure in collaboration with Claude and Anthropic Research for reporting the issue and providing the fix.
References
How this page is made: the data panel comes from the GitHub Advisory Database, CISA’s KEV catalog, the NVD and FIRST EPSS, and updates twice a day. No analysis has been written for this entry yet. Methodology
