CVE-2025-60221
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 · uneditedDeserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in captivateaudio Captivate Sync captivatesync-trade allows Object Injection.This issue affects Captivate Sync: from n/a through <= 3.0.3.
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 confidenceDeserialization vulnerability in Captivate Sync allows attackers to inject malicious PHP objects through unsafe use of unserialize() on untrusted data. This PHP Object Injection can lead to remote code execution, file operations, or database manipulation depending on available gadget chains in the application environment.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Captivate Sync installation and versionLocate the Captivate Sync installation directory and check for version files, typically in the main application folder or a VERSION/CHANGELOG file. Compare the found version against the vendor's release notes for patched versions.Affected if The installed version is older than the patched version released after the CVE publication date, or no version information is available.
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Search for unsafe unserialize() callsScan the Captivate Sync source code for calls to PHP's unserialize() function, particularly in files handling user input, API endpoints, or data import features.Affected if Code contains unserialize() calls without prior sanitization or validation of the input data.
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Verify input source to unserialize() callsTrace the data flow from user-controlled sources (GET/POST parameters, cookies, file uploads, external API responses) to the identified unserialize() calls. Check if untrusted data reaches these calls directly.Affected if Untrusted or user-supplied data is passed directly to unserialize() without validation or transformation.
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Check for dangerous PHP gadget functionsSearch the application codebase for known PHP gadget chain components such as __destruct(), __wakeup(), __toString(), or calls to system/exec/shell_exec/passthru/file_put_contents that could be chained with the object injection.Affected if The application contains magic methods or dangerous file operations that could be triggered through PHP Object Injection.
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Inspect configuration for data processing endpointsReview Captivate Sync's configuration files and route definitions for endpoints that accept serialized data, such as sync, import, or webhook handlers.Affected if The application exposes endpoints that accept and process serialized data from external sources without validation.
If Captivate Sync is running and its codebase contains unserialize() calls that process untrusted input without validation, the environment is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection via this CVE.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade to a patched version of Captivate Sync; if no patch available, replace unsafe unserialize() calls with json_decode() and implement strict allowlist validation of input data.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-60221 — 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-2025-60221 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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- 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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