RegistrationmagicWordPress extension · Metagauss
CVE-2017-20208
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 · uneditedThe RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to 3.7.9.3 (exclusive) via deserialization of untrusted input from the is_expired_by_date() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject a PHP Object. The additional presence of a POP chain allows attackers to fetch a remote file and install it on the site.
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 confidencePHP Object Injection vulnerability in the RegistrationMagic WordPress plugin allows unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious PHP objects via insecure deserialization in the is_expired_by_date() function. The presence of a POP chain enables remote code execution by fetching and installing arbitrary files on the targeted site.
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
RegistrationmagicWordPress extension
< 3.7.9.3CVSS 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:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify RegistrationMagic plugin is installedCheck the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) for a folder named 'registrationmagic' or 'registration-magic' or check via WP admin at Plugins > Installed PluginsAffected if The plugin is present in the plugins directory
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Identify the installed plugin versionOpen the plugin's main PHP file (typically registrationmagic.php) and locate the 'Version' header in the file comments, or check the readme.txt file in the plugin folderAffected if Unable to determine version or version is below 3.7.9.3
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare the identified version number to the affected range: any version less than 3.7.9.3 is vulnerableAffected if Installed version is < 3.7.9.3 (e.g., 3.7.9.2, 3.7.8, 3.7.7, etc.)
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Locate the vulnerable functionSearch within the plugin files for the function 'is_expired_by_date' - this function contains the insecure deserialization vulnerabilityAffected if The function exists in the plugin code, confirming the vulnerable code path is present
A user is affected if the RegistrationMagic plugin is installed and its version is less than 3.7.9.3, meaning the insecure deserialization in is_expired_by_date() is present and exploitable by unauthenticated attackers.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped3.7.9.3
Update the RegistrationMagic plugin to version 3.7.9.3 or later to patch the insecure deserialization vulnerability. As this is a critical unauthenticated RCE vector, priority should be immediate.
3.7.9.3
- Backup your WordPress site database and files before making any changes
- Update the RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms plugin to version 3.7.9.3 or later via the WordPress admin dashboard (Plugins > All Plugins > RegistrationMagic > Update Now)
- Alternatively, manually update by downloading version 3.7.9.3 from the WordPress Plugin Repository and uploading via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
- Verify the plugin version has been updated to 3.7.9.3 or higher in Plugins > Installed Plugins
- Test user registration functionality to confirm the site works correctly after the update
- Monitor site logs for any suspicious activity in the days following the update
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Registrationmagic
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-20208 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-20208 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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