CVE-2026-2471
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 · uneditedThe WP Mail Logging plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 1.15.0 via deserialization of untrusted input from the email log message field. This is due to the `BaseModel` class constructor calling `maybe_unserialize()` on all properties retrieved from the database without validation. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject a PHP Object by submitting a double-serialized payload through any public-facing form that sends email (e.g., Contact Form 7). When the email is logged and subsequently viewed by an administrator, the malicious payload is deserialized into an arbitrary PHP object. No known POP chain is present in the vulnerable software, which means this vulnerability has no impact unless another plugin or theme containing a POP chain is installed on the site. If a POP chain is present via an additional plugin or theme installed on the target system, it may allow the attacker to perform actions like delete arbitrary files, retrieve sensitive data, or execute code depending on the POP chain present.
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 confidenceThe WP Mail Logging plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to 1.15.0. The vulnerability exists in the BaseModel class constructor which calls maybe_unserialize() on properties retrieved from the database without validation. Unauthenticated attackers can inject a double-serialized PHP object via any email-sending form (e.g., Contact Form 7). When an administrator views the logged email, the payload deserializes into an arbitrary PHP object. No POP chain exists in the vulnerable plugin, so exploitation requires another installed plugin/theme to contain a POP chain.
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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/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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Confirm WP Mail Logging plugin installation and versionAccess WordPress admin panel, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, locate 'WP Mail Logging' and note the version number. Alternatively, inspect the plugin main file (e.g., /wp-content/plugins/wp-mail-logging/package.json or readme.txt) for the Version header.Affected if The plugin is installed with a version identifier at or below 1.15.0.
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Verify email logging functionality is activeNavigate to WP Mail Logging settings in the WordPress admin (usually under Settings > WP Mail Logging). Check if logging is enabled for outgoing emails.Affected if Email logging is turned on, meaning the plugin is actively storing emails in the database.
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Identify email-sending plugins or forms presentReview installed plugins for known email-sending components such as Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor Forms, or similar contact form plugins. These provide the injection vector.Affected if One or more plugins or themes with email-sending forms are installed and active, allowing unauthenticated users to submit data that gets logged.
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Inspect logged email data for serialized contentAccess the WP Mail Logging email log viewer (typically at Tools > WP Mail Logging > View Logs in the admin). Manually examine recent logged emails, particularly the To, From, Subject, and message body fields for unusual serialized PHP strings (e.g., O:4:"Test":0:{} or similar).Affected if Logged emails contain serialized PHP objects or suspicious string patterns that could indicate injection attempts.
You are affected if WP Mail Logging plugin version 1.15.0 or lower is installed with logging enabled, and your site has email-sending forms that could be abused to inject payloads viewed by administrators.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpdate the WP Mail Logging plugin to a version beyond 1.15.0. Additionally, audit installed plugins and themes for the presence of POP chains that could be leveraged if this vulnerability is exploited.
Latest version after 1.15.0 (check WordPress plugin repository for current stable release)
- 1. Update the WP Mail Logging plugin to the latest version available in the WordPress plugin repository
- 2. Navigate to Plugins > All Plugins in WordPress admin dashboard
- 3. Find WP Mail Logging in the plugin list
- 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
- 5. Verify the update completes successfully
- 6. Consider installing a security plugin or Web Application Firewall (WAF) as an additional layer of protection
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-2471 — 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-2026-2471 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data