dbcve.org
Deserialization of Untrusted DataWeakness · CWE-502

CVE-2024-1858

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
The Lightbox slider – Responsive Lightbox Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 1.9.9 via deserialization of untrusted input through post meta data. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject a PHP Object. No known POP chain is present in the vulnerable plugin. If a POP chain is present via an additional plugin or theme installed on the target system, it could allow the attacker to delete arbitrary files, retrieve sensitive data, or execute code.

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

The Lightbox slider – Responsive Lightbox Gallery WordPress plugin up to version 1.9.9 is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection via unsafe deserialization of untrusted input stored in post meta data. Authenticated attackers with contributor-level permissions or higher can inject arbitrary PHP objects. While no POP chain exists within the vulnerable plugin itself, attacker-controlled deserialization could leverage POP chains present in other plugins or themes installed on the same WordPress instance.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to the latest version when available. Until then, restrict user permissions to trusted roles only and audit installed plugins/themes for potential POP chains that could be chained with this vulnerability.

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

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

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. Confirm plugin installation
    Check if the Lightbox slider - Responsive Lightbox Gallery plugin is installed on the WordPress site. In the WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Lightbox slider - Responsive Lightbox Gallery'. Alternatively, check if the directory /wp-content/plugins/responsive-lightbox exists.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active on the WordPress site.
  2. Identify installed version
    In the WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins, find the Responsive Lightbox Gallery plugin and note the version number displayed. Alternatively, open the main plugin file (e.g., responsive-lightbox.php) and look for the 'Version:' header in the plugin comments.
    Affected if The installed version is 1.9.9 or lower (the vulnerability affects versions up to 1.9.9).
  3. Verify post meta data with serialized content
    Query the WordPress post meta table (wp_postmeta) for serialized data that could be exploited. Run a database query to find meta_value entries containing serialized objects, such as: SELECT * FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_value LIKE 'a:%' OR meta_value LIKE 'O:%' OR meta_value LIKE 's:%'; Check with your database prefix if different from 'wp_'.
    Affected if Post meta entries contain serialized PHP objects that could be deserialized via the plugin's vulnerable deserialization call.
  4. Assess user role privileges
    Review user accounts on the WordPress site. In the admin dashboard, go to Users and identify which users have the Contributor, Author, Editor, or Administrator roles. The vulnerability requires an authenticated user with contributor-level permissions or higher.
    Affected if There are user accounts with contributor-level or higher permissions who could potentially exploit this vulnerability.

A site is affected if the Responsive Lightbox Gallery plugin version 1.9.9 or lower is installed, the site contains serialized data in post meta that gets processed by the plugin, and there are users with contributor-level or higher access.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the plugin to the latest version when available. Until then, restrict user permissions to trusted roles only and audit installed plugins/themes for potential POP chains that could be chained with this vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version available on wordpress.org (version 1.9.9 or higher)

  1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Find the 'Lightbox slider – Responsive Lightbox Gallery' plugin
  4. Check if the current version is below 1.9.9 (the vulnerable version)
  5. If vulnerable, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the latest version
  6. Alternatively, download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/responsive-lightbox-gallery/ and upload manually
Caveat None documented for this security update; upgrading to latest version recommended

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2024-1858 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