Deserialization of Untrusted DataWeakness · CWE-502

CVE-2026-59521

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable Zero-click 5 weeks old

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 ShapedPlugin LLC Real Testimonials testimonial-free allows Object Injection.This issue affects Real Testimonials: from n/a through <= 3.1.15.

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 Real Testimonials WordPress plugin caused by unsafe deserialization of untrusted data. The vulnerability allows authenticated attackers (with contributor-level access or higher) to inject malicious PHP objects, potentially leading to remote code execution via magic methods if exploitable POP chains exist in the application or other installed plugins.

MitigationUpdate Real Testimonials plugin to the latest patched version immediately. If no patch is available, disable or remove the plugin until a fix is released.

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 Real Testimonials plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, and look for 'Real Testimonials' in the list of installed plugins
    Affected if Real Testimonials plugin appears in the installed plugins list
  2. Identify the installed version of Real Testimonials
    In the Plugins page, click on the plugin name or view details to display the version number; alternatively, check the plugin header in /wp-content/plugins/real-testimonials/real-testimonials.php for the 'Version' comment
    Affected if The displayed version matches the vulnerable version range for CVE-2026-59521 (compare against official WordPress repository release notes or security advisories)
  3. Confirm the plugin is active
    In Plugins > Installed Plugins, check if 'Real Testimonials' shows as 'Active' under the plugin status column
    Affected if The plugin is currently activated on the WordPress site
  4. Determine if untrusted users have contributor-level access
    Go to Users > All Users and review user roles; contributor-level or higher roles (contributor, author, editor, administrator) can exploit this vulnerability
    Affected if Any user account with contributor-level or higher access exists on the site, especially accounts that could be obtained by untrusted individuals

Your environment is affected if the Real Testimonials plugin is installed, active, and running a vulnerable version, regardless of whether untrusted users currently have access - the vulnerability exists in the plugin code itself.

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 Real Testimonials plugin to the latest patched version immediately. If no patch is available, disable or remove the plugin until a fix is released.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-59521 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-59521 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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