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PHPApplication

CVE-2016-9138

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-01-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.6.27 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
PHP through 5.6.27 and 7.x through 7.0.12 mishandles property modification during __wakeup processing, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via crafted serialized data, as demonstrated by Exception::__toString with DateInterval::__wakeup.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

PHP's unserialize() function mishandles property modification during __wakeup magic method processing. Attackers can craft malicious serialized objects that trigger undefined behavior during deserialization, potentially causing denial of service or other unspecified impacts via the interaction between Exception::__toString and DateInterval::__wakeup.

MitigationUpgrade PHP to version 5.6.28 or later, or 7.0.13 or later. Avoid using unserialize() with untrusted data; prefer json_decode() or use an allow-list approach if unserialize is required.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
PHPApplication
Affected:<= 5.6.27= 7.0.0= 7.0.1= 7.0.2= 7.0.3= 7.0.4= 7.0.5= 7.0.6= 7.0.7= 7.0.8= 7.0.9= 7.0.10

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify PHP version
    Run 'php -v' or 'phpinfo()' to determine the installed PHP version
    Affected if The version is PHP 5.6.x <= 5.6.27, or PHP 7.0.0 through 7.0.10 (any version in the 7.0.0-7.0.10 range)
  2. Locate unserialize() usage
    Search source code for 'unserialize(' function calls, or inspect runtime behavior using grep -r "unserialize" /path/to/code
    Affected if The application uses unserialize() to process data from untrusted sources
  3. Verify DateInterval class presence
    Check if DateInterval class is used in the codebase or could be deserialized via unserialize() calls; search for 'DateInterval' in code
    Affected if DateInterval objects are deserialized or could be injected via the unserialize() input
  4. Confirm Exception handling in deserialized objects
    Review whether Exception class or subclasses could be part of the unserialized object graph processed by unserialize()
    Affected if Exception-derived objects are processed through unserialize() in combination with DateInterval objects

You are affected if your PHP version falls within the affected ranges AND your code uses unserialize() to process objects that could include DateInterval in combination with Exception handling.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.6.27
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PHP to version 5.6.28 or later, or 7.0.13 or later. Avoid using unserialize() with untrusted data; prefer json_decode() or use an allow-list approach if unserialize is required.

Recommended fix High confidence

PHP 5.6.28+ or PHP 7.0.13+ (or migrate to a supported branch like PHP 7.4+ or PHP 8.x)

  1. 1. Identify the current PHP version installed using: php -v
  2. 2. If running PHP 5.6.x (version <= 5.6.27), upgrade to PHP 5.6.28 or later
  3. 3. If running PHP 7.0.x (versions 7.0.0, 7.0.1, or 7.0.2), upgrade to PHP 7.0.13 or later
  4. 4. Use your system's package manager to upgrade (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install php5.6 or yum update php)
  5. 5. Verify the upgrade was successful by running: php -v
  6. 6. Test that affected applications function correctly with the new PHP version
Caveat Minor point releases typically have no breaking changes; however, test critical applications before deploying to production

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in PHP Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,504.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-9138 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data