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Deserialization of Untrusted DataWeakness · CWE-502

CVE-2024-3070

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
The Last Viewed Posts by WPBeginner plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.0 via deserialization of untrusted input from the LastViewedPosts Cookie. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers 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 Last Viewed Posts WordPress plugin up to version 1.0.0 is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection via unsafe deserialization of the LastViewedPosts cookie value. Unauthenticated attackers can inject arbitrary PHP objects through this cookie. While no POP chain exists within the vulnerable plugin itself, an attacker could leverage POP chains from other installed plugins or themes to achieve arbitrary file deletion, data exfiltration, or remote code execution.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to the latest version once available, or remove the plugin if no patch is released. Audit all other installed plugins and 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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm the plugin is installed
    Check if the Last Viewed Posts plugin files exist in your WordPress installation under wp-content/plugins/ (look for a folder named 'last-viewed-posts', 'last-viewed-posts-widget', or similar). Use a file listing command or FTP to inspect the plugins directory.
    Affected if The plugin folder exists in wp-content/plugins/
  2. Identify the installed version
    Open the main plugin PHP file in the plugin folder and look for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block at the top, or check the readme.txt file for the 'Stable tag' entry.
    Affected if The version listed is 1.0.0 or lower (the vulnerability affects versions up to and including 1.0.0)
  3. Verify the plugin is active
    Log into the WordPress admin dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, or query the wp_options table for the option_name 'active_plugins' to see if the plugin is enabled.
    Affected if The plugin appears in the list of active plugins
  4. Check for vulnerable cookie handling code
    Inspect the main plugin PHP file for unserialize() calls that process the 'LastViewedPosts' cookie value. Search for code that reads $_COOKIE['LastViewedPosts'] and passes it to unserialize().
    Affected if The code contains an unserialize() call on the LastViewedPosts cookie value without prior sanitization
  5. Confirm cookie is accessible to unauthenticated users
    Test whether the website sets the LastViewedPosts cookie by visiting the site as a non-logged-in visitor and checking browser cookies. The vulnerability is exploitable without authentication.
    Affected if The cookie is set and readable without being logged in

You are affected if the Last Viewed Posts plugin is installed, active, and running version 1.0.0 or lower, with vulnerable unserialize() code handling the LastViewedPosts cookie.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the plugin to the latest version once available, or remove the plugin if no patch is released. Audit all other installed plugins and themes for potential POP chains that could be chained with this vulnerability.

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-2024-3070 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
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