Deserialization of Untrusted DataWeakness · CWE-502

CVE-2025-68526

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in A WP Life Modal Popup Box modal-popup-box allows Object Injection.This issue affects Modal Popup Box: from n/a through <= 1.6.1.

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 Modal Popup Box WordPress plugin (versions <= 1.6.1) contains a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability allowing Object Injection. The plugin uses PHP's unsafe unserialize() function on user-controlled input, enabling attackers to instantiate arbitrary objects and potentially trigger gadget chains for remote code execution, depending on available classes in the WordPress environment.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of the plugin that replaces unsafe unserialize() calls with secure deserialization methods like json_decode(), or implement proper input validation and sanitization before any deserialization occurs.

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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. Verify Modal Popup Box plugin is installed
    Access WordPress admin panel under Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Modal Popup Box' or inspect the wp-content/plugins directory for the modal-popup-box folder
    Affected if The plugin appears in the installed plugins list
  2. Check installed plugin version
    View the plugin version in the Plugins list in WordPress admin, or open wp-content/plugins/modal-popup-box/readme.txt and look at the 'Stable tag' entry, or check the plugin header in its main PHP file
    Affected if The version listed is 1.6.1 or lower
  3. Inspect plugin source code for vulnerable unserialize calls
    Search plugin files for 'unserialize' by examining PHP files in wp-content/plugins/modal-popup-box/, looking for code patterns like unserialize($_GET[...]), unserialize($_POST[...]), or unserialize($_REQUEST[...])
    Affected if Any file contains an unserialize() call that processes input from $_GET, $_POST, or $_REQUEST superglobals without prior sanitization
  4. Identify if plugin processes external request data
    Review the plugin's PHP files to determine if it handles data from URL parameters or form submissions that could reach the unserialize call
    Affected if The plugin accepts and processes user-supplied data from HTTP requests that could be passed to the vulnerable unserialize function

A user is affected if the Modal Popup Box plugin version is 1.6.1 or lower AND the plugin code contains an unserialize() call that processes untrusted user input from HTTP request parameters.

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

Upgrade to a patched version of the plugin that replaces unsafe unserialize() calls with secure deserialization methods like json_decode(), or implement proper input validation and sanitization before any deserialization occurs.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2025-68526 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