Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2026-24765
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 · uneditedPHPUnit is a testing framework for PHP. A vulnerability has been discovered in versions prior to 12.5.8, 11.5.50, 10.5.62, 9.6.33, and 8.5.52 involving unsafe deserialization of code coverage data in PHPT test execution. The vulnerability exists in the `cleanupForCoverage()` method, which deserializes code coverage files without validation, potentially allowing remote code execution if malicious `.coverage` files are present prior to the execution of the PHPT test. The vulnerability occurs when a `.coverage` file, which should not exist before test execution, is deserialized without the `allowed_classes` parameter restriction. An attacker with local file write access can place a malicious serialized object with a `__wakeup()` method into the file system, leading to arbitrary code execution during test runs with code coverage instrumentation enabled. This vulnerability requires local file write access to the location where PHPUnit stores or expects code coverage files for PHPT tests. This can occur through CI/CD pipeline attacks, the local development environment, and/or compromised dependencies. Rather than just silently sanitizing the input via `['allowed_classes' => false]`, the maintainer has chosen to make the anomalous state explicit by treating pre-existing `.coverage` files for PHPT tests as an error condition. Starting in versions in versions 12.5.8, 11.5.50, 10.5.62, 9.6.33, when a `.coverage` file is detected for a PHPT test prior to execution, PHPUnit will emit a clear error message identifying the anomalous state. Organizations can reduce the effective risk of this vulnerability through proper CI/CD configuration, including ephemeral runners, code review enforcement, branch protection, artifact isolation, and access control.
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 analysisThe application rebuilds objects from attacker-supplied serialized data, and the act of rebuilding can trigger dangerous code paths. In many runtimes this leads straight to remote code execution. The durable fix is to avoid deserializing untrusted input — or to use a strict, type-limited format with integrity checks.
General guidance for the deserialization of untrusted data class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 11.0< 8.5.52>= 9.0.0, < 9.6.33>= 10.0.0, < 10.5.62>= 11.0.0, < 11.5.50>= 12.0.0, < 12.5.8CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 · scoped8.5.529.6.3310.5.62
8.5.52 (for 8.x) | 9.6.33 (for 9.x) | 10.5.62 (for 10.x) | 11.5.50 (for 11.x) | 12.5.8 (for 12.x)
- Identify the currently installed PHPUnit version using `composer show phpunit/phpunit --direct` or checking `composer.lock`
- Upgrade PHPUnit to a fixed version based on your current major version: For PHP 7.3+ using PHPUnit 8.x, upgrade to 8.5.52; For PHP 7.4+ using PHPUnit 9.x, upgrade to 9.6.33; For PHP 8.1+ using PHPUnit 10.x, upgrade to 10.5.62; For PHP 8.1+ using PHPUnit 11.x, upgrade to 11.5.50; For PHPUnit 12.x, upgrade to 12.5.8 or later
- Run `composer update phpunit/phpunit --with-all-dependencies` to apply the upgrade
- Verify the upgrade was successful by running `phpunit --version` and confirming the installed version matches the target fixed release
- Ensure CI/CD pipelines that run PHPT tests with code coverage do not have pre-existing .coverage files in the test execution directory
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-24765 — 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-2026-24765 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
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