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Deserialization of Untrusted DataWeakness · CWE-502

CVE-2026-22384

CRITICAL · 9.8 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 →
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 leafcolor Applay - Shortcodes applay-shortcodes allows Object Injection.This issue affects Applay - Shortcodes: from n/a through <= 3.7.

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

This is a PHP Object Injection vulnerability in the Applay - Shortcodes WordPress plugin. The plugin's shortcode functionality deserializes untrusted user input without proper validation, allowing attackers to inject malicious PHP objects. When combined with suitable 'gadget chains' (existing PHP classes in the application), this can lead to remote code execution.

MitigationUpdate the Applay - Shortcodes plugin to the latest patched version as soon as available. If no patch exists, disable and remove the plugin immediately, or implement input validation to block serialization data from reaching the vulnerable deserialization routine.

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. Verify the plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins, or inspect the plugin directory at /wp-content/plugins/applay-shortcodes/ to confirm the plugin files exist
    Affected if The applay-shortcodes plugin is present in the WordPress installation
  2. Determine the installed version
    Check the plugin main file (typically applay-shortcodes.php) for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block, or view the version in the WordPress Plugins admin page
    Affected if The reported version is lower than 3.8, or the version cannot be determined (plugin may be outdated)

The environment is affected if the applay-shortcodes plugin is installed with a version earlier than 3.8 and the vulnerable deserialization endpoint is accessible to unauthenticated users.

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 Applay - Shortcodes plugin to the latest patched version as soon as available. If no patch exists, disable and remove the plugin immediately, or implement input validation to block serialization data from reaching the vulnerable deserialization routine.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
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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-2026-22384 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