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CVE-2018-20148

Status: ModifiedCritical (9.8)—💥 PoC

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.

CVSS

Exploitation probability (EPSS)

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).

💥 Public exploits

Exploit code or detection templates are publicly available. This is not the same as confirmed active exploitation (KEV), but it raises the risk: patch with priority.

⚠️ GitHub proofs of concept are not verified: some are fake or contain malware. Never run them outside an isolated lab.

Affected technologies (2)

Debian — Debian LinuxWordpress — Wordpress

CWEs

References

Raw JSON (NVD)

Show
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      "value": "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."
    },
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    }
  ],
  "lastModified": "2026-06-17T01:52:20.737",
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