Deserialization of Untrusted DataWeakness · CWE-502

CVE-2024-52410

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-16
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
Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in Phoenixheart Referrer Detector referrer-detector allows Object Injection.This issue affects Referrer Detector: from n/a through <= 4.2.1.0.

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

This is a PHP Object Injection vulnerability in the Phoenixheart Referrer Detector library. The application deserializes untrusted data (likely from user input such as HTTP headers) without proper validation, allowing attackers to inject malicious serialized PHP objects that can lead to remote code execution.

MitigationReplace unsafe PHP unserialize() calls with json_decode() or implement a strict allowed_classes whitelist if serialization must be used. Validate and sanitize all input before deserialization.

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. Locate the Phoenixheart Referrer Detector library in your codebase
    Search your vendor directory, composer.json, or project dependencies for 'phoenixheart' or 'referrer-detector' to find the library files
    Affected if The library is present and included in your project dependencies
  2. Identify the installed version of the library
    Check the composer.lock file or the library's composer.json for the version number, then compare it against any known affected versions
    Affected if The version is at risk based on version comparison (no specific safe version listed; assume all versions may be affected if they use unserialize())
  3. Find code that calls unserialize() without allowed_classes
    Search the library source code for 'unserialize(' calls and inspect whether the second parameter (allowed_classes) is set to a whitelist or is missing entirely
    Affected if unserialize() is called without a strict allowed_classes whitelist parameter
  4. Identify if HTTP headers or user input reach the deserialization
    Trace the data flow from HTTP request headers (such as Referer, User-Agent, or custom headers) to the unserialize() call in the library
    Affected if Untrusted HTTP headers or user-controlled input are passed directly to unserialize() without validation
  5. Verify if input validation or sanitization exists before deserialization
    Search for input validation functions (filter_var, preg_match, etc.) or sanitization logic that occurs before the unserialize() call
    Affected if No validation or sanitization is performed on the data before it is deserialized

Your environment is affected if the Phoenixheart Referrer Detector library is installed and its code uses unserialize() on untrusted input from HTTP headers or other user data without implementing a strict allowed_classes whitelist or input validation.

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

Replace unsafe PHP unserialize() calls with json_decode() or implement a strict allowed_classes whitelist if serialization must be used. Validate and sanitize all input before deserialization.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,380
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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-2024-52410 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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