Patreon WordpressWordPress extension · Patreon
CVE-2018-20984
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 patreon-connect plugin before 1.2.2 for WordPress has Object Injection.
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 · moderate confidenceThe patreon-connect WordPress plugin before version 1.2.2 is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection via unsafe deserialization of user-supplied input, potentially allowing remote code execution through the exploitation of magic methods in loaded classes.
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
Patreon WordpressWordPress extension
< 1.2.2CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify patreon-connect plugin is installedIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Patreon Connect' or 'patreon-connect' in the list of active pluginsAffected if The patreon-connect plugin appears in the installed plugins list
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Check installed plugin versionIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, find the patreon-connect plugin, and note the version number displayed below the plugin nameAffected if The displayed version number is less than 1.2.2 (for example, 1.2.1, 1.2.0, 1.1.x, etc.)
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Inspect plugin files for deserializationAccess the plugin directory via FTP or file manager (typically wp-content/plugins/patreon-connect/) and search for unserialize() calls in PHP files, particularly those handling user-supplied inputAffected if unserialize() calls exist that process input without prior validation
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Check for exposed input vectorsReview plugin files that handle API requests, form submissions, or callback handlers for any parameters passed to unserialize()Affected if User-controllable parameters are directly fed into unserialize() functions
A user is affected if the patreon-connect plugin is installed with a version lower than 1.2.2 and the plugin processes unserialize() on user-supplied input.
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 · scoped1.2.2
Update the patreon-connect plugin to version 1.2.2 or later to patch the unsafe unserialization vulnerability.
1.2.2
- Backup your WordPress database and files before making any changes
- Log in to WordPress admin dashboard
- Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- Locate the 'Patreon Connect' plugin in the list
- Check if an update is available; if so, click 'Update Now' to update to version 1.2.2
- If automatic update is not available, manually download version 1.2.2 from wordpress.org plugin repository
- Deactivate the current plugin, delete it, then upload and install version 1.2.2
- Reactivate the plugin after installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Patreon Wordpress
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20984 — 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-2018-20984 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