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Deserialization of Untrusted DataWeakness · CWE-502

CVE-2024-1896

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Photo Gallery – Responsive Photo Gallery, Image Gallery, Portfolio Gallery, Logo Gallery And Team Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.2 via deserialization via shortcode of untrusted input from the 'awl_lg_settings_' attribute. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor access and above, to inject a PHP Object. No 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 · moderate confidence

PHP Object Injection vulnerability in WordPress Photo Gallery plugin (versions up to 1.4.2) via deserialization of untrusted input from the 'awl_lg_settings_' shortcode attribute. Authenticated attackers with contributor+ access can inject PHP objects; while no POP chain exists within the plugin itself, additional plugins/themes may provide one for remote code execution.

MitigationUpdate to patched version if available; restrict contributor-level access until patch applied; audit installed plugins/themes for POP chain potential.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/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. Confirm Photo Gallery plugin is installed
    Check wp-content/plugins/photo-gallery directory exists, or query the WordPress plugins database table: SELECT plugin FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'active_plugins' LIKE '%photo-gallery%';
    Affected if Photo Gallery plugin is not found in the WordPress installation
  2. Determine installed plugin version
    Check the plugin main file header for version: cat wp-content/plugins/photo-gallery/photo-gallery.php | grep -i 'Version:' or look in WordPress plugins admin page
    Affected if Version is 1.4.2 or lower (any version up to and including 1.4.2)
  3. Check if shortcode is accessible
    Search posts/pages for usage of [awl_lg_settings_] shortcode: SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[awl_lg_settings_%' AND post_status = 'publish';
    Affected if The shortcode is present in published content and the plugin is active
  4. Verify contributor+ user access exists
    Query user roles: SELECT user_id, meta_value FROM wp_usermeta WHERE meta_key = 'wp_capabilities' AND meta_value LIKE '%contributor%' OR meta_value LIKE '%author%' OR meta_value LIKE '%editor%' OR meta_value LIKE '%administrator%';
    Affected if At least one user with contributor, author, editor, or administrator role exists in the system

You are affected if the Photo Gallery plugin version is 1.4.2 or lower AND the plugin is active with contributor+ level users present in WordPress.

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 to patched version if available; restrict contributor-level access until patch applied; audit installed plugins/themes for POP chain potential.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to the latest version of the Photo Gallery plugin (version 1.4.3 or higher, if available)

  1. Check the current version of the Photo Gallery plugin installed on your WordPress site
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in the WordPress admin dashboard
  3. Locate the Photo Gallery plugin and verify the current version number
  4. If the installed version is 1.4.2 or lower, update the plugin to the latest available version
Caveat Review the plugin's changelog before upgrading to check for any breaking changes that might affect your site functionality

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,440
Get help mitigating

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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2024-1896 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