CVE-2018-20148 in the critical feed json
In WordPress before 4.9.9 and 5.x before 5.0.1, contributors could conduct PHP object injection attacks via crafted metadata in a wp.getMed…
published 2018-12-14 7 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2018-12717
- cvss
- 9.8
- version 3.0, NVD
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 26.8%
- EPSS 26.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 98%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In WordPress before 4.9.9 and 5.x before 5.0.1, contributors could conduct PHP object injection attacks via crafted metadata in a wp.getMediaItem XMLRPC call. This is caused by mishandling of serialized data at phar:// URLs in the wp_get_attachment_thumb_file function in wp-includes/post.php.
Patch / fix
- wordpress wordpress 4.9.9, 5.0.1
- wordpress Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 5.0.1+dfsg1-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2018-20148
Exploit prediction
26.82% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).
Exploits and checks
- blog.secarma.co.uk https://blog.secarma.co.uk/labs/near-phar-dangerous-unserialization-wherever-you-are referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVD | 3.0 | 9.8 | CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVD | 2.0 | 7.5 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P |
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-502 Deserialization of Untrusted Data
- Technology feeds
References
-
blog.secarma.co.uk
/labs/near-phar-dangerous-unserialization-wherever-you-are
exploit, third-party-advisory
-
debian.org
/security/2019/dsa-4401
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
-
wordpress.org
/support/wordpress-version/version-5-0-1/
release-notes, vendor-advisory
-
codex.wordpress.org
/Version_4.9.9
product, vendor-advisory
-
wpvulndb.com
/vulnerabilities/9171
vendor-advisory
-
wordpress.org
/news/2018/12/wordpress-5-0-1-security-release/
release-notes, vendor-advisory
-
securityfocus.com
/bid/106220
vdb-entry, third-party-advisory
-
zdnet.com
/article/wordpress-vulnerability-affects-a-third-of-most-popular-websites-online/
press/media-coverage, third-party-advisory
-
lists.debian.org
/debian-lts-announce/2019/02/msg00019.html
mailing-list, third-party-advisory
-
zdnet.com
/article/wordpress-plugs-bug-that-led-to-google-indexing-some-user-passwords/
press/media-coverage, third-party-advisory
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2018-20148
- NVD CVE-2018-20148
Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.