CVE-2026-22473
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 designthemes Dental Clinic dental allows Object Injection.This issue affects Dental Clinic: 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 confidenceA PHP Object Injection vulnerability exists in the Dental Clinic theme plugin due to unsafe deserialization of untrusted data. Attackers can exploit this to inject malicious serialized PHP objects, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution on the affected WordPress site.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Dental Clinic theme is installedNavigate to Appearance > Themes in WordPress admin dashboard. Look for 'Dental Clinic' by DesignThemes in the themes list. Note whether it is active or installed but inactive.Affected if The Dental Clinic theme by DesignThemes is installed (active or inactive)
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Determine the theme versionIn WordPress admin, go to Appearance > Themes > Dental Clinic theme details. Note the version number displayed. Alternatively, check the style.css file in the theme directory (wp-content/themes/dental-clinic/style.css) for the 'Version:' header.Affected if The installed version is lower than 3.8 (versions below 3.8 are affected)
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Locate unserialize() calls in theme filesUse a file search or code analysis tool to scan theme PHP files for 'unserialize(' patterns. Examine files in wp-content/themes/dental-clinic/ directory, particularly any files handling form submissions, AJAX requests, or user data processing.Affected if The theme contains unserialize() calls in PHP files
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Determine if unserialize() receives user-controlled inputReview the code around each unserialize() call. Check if the data being deserialized comes from $_POST, $_GET, $_COOKIE, $_REQUEST, or database values that could be influenced by user input. Look for any sanitization or validation applied before the unserialize() call.Affected if User input (directly or indirectly) reaches the unserialize() function without proper validation
You are affected if the Dental Clinic theme is installed with a version below 3.8 AND the theme contains unserialize() calls that process user-supplied data without validation.
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 dataReplace unsafe unserialize() calls with safer alternatives like json_decode, implement strict allowlist validation on any deserialized input, and ensure all user-supplied data is sanitized before deserialization.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-22473 — 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-2026-22473 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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