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PHPApplication

CVE-2026-7261

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.2.31 / 8.3.31 or later.
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
In PHP versions 8.2.* before 8.2.31, 8.3.* before 8.3.31, 8.4.* before 8.4.21, and 8.5.* before 8.5.6, when SoapServer is configured with SOAP_PERSISTENCE_SESSION, the handler object is persisted across requests via session storage. However, in the case SOAP requests results in an error, the persistance is handled incorrectly, resulting in freeing the object while keeping a pointer to it, which may lead to use-after-free. This may lead to memory corruption, information disclosure, or process crashes, with confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact on the vulnerable system.

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 confidence

Use-after-free vulnerability in PHP's SoapServer when configured with SOAP_PERSISTENCE_SESSION. When SOAP requests result in errors, the handler object is incorrectly freed while maintaining pointers to it, leading to memory corruption, information disclosure, or process crashes.

MitigationUpgrade PHP to version 8.2.31, 8.3.31, 8.4.21, or 8.5.6 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, avoid using SOAP_PERSISTENCE_SESSION or implement robust error handling to prevent error conditions in SOAP requests.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
PHPApplication
Affected:>= 8.2.0, < 8.2.31>= 8.3.0, < 8.3.31>= 8.4.0, < 8.4.21>= 8.5.0, < 8.5.6

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. Check installed PHP version
    Run `php -v` to display the PHP version. Extract the major.minor.patch version number.
    Affected if The version is >= 8.2.0 and < 8.2.31, OR >= 8.3.0 and < 8.3.31, OR >= 8.4.0 and < 8.4.21, OR >= 8.5.0 and < 8.5.6
  2. Verify SOAP extension is loaded
    Run `php -m` or `php -i` and search for the SOAP module in the output.
    Affected if The SOAP extension is listed as loaded
  3. Identify SoapServer configurations using persistence
    Search PHP source code files for `new SoapServer` calls and examine the options array. Look for the `persistence` option set to `SOAP_PERSISTENCE_SESSION`.
    Affected if Code instantiates SoapServer with the `persistence` option set to `SOAP_PERSISTENCE_SESSION`
  4. Check for SOAP request handlers in production
    Review web server configuration and application code to identify endpoints that route to SOAP services using session persistence.
    Affected if The application exposes SOAP endpoints that utilize SOAP_PERSISTENCE_SESSION and accept external requests

You are affected if your PHP version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND your application uses the SOAP extension with SOAP_PERSISTENCE_SESSION enabled for handling requests that may produce errors.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 8.2.31 / 8.3.31 / 8.4.21 or later
Fixed in 8.2.318.3.318.4.21
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PHP to version 8.2.31, 8.3.31, 8.4.21, or 8.5.6 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, avoid using SOAP_PERSISTENCE_SESSION or implement robust error handling to prevent error conditions in SOAP requests.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to PHP 8.2.31+, 8.3.31+, 8.4.21+, or 8.5.6+ (preferably the latest available in your current branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current PHP version by running 'php -v' on the server
  2. 2. Determine which PHP branch is in use (8.2.x, 8.3.x, 8.4.x, or 8.5.x)
  3. 3. If using a package manager (apt, yum, dnf, apk), update to the latest available version in the current branch
  4. 4. For example, on Debian/Ubuntu: 'apt update && apt install php8.3' (adjust version number as needed)
  5. 5. On RHEL/CentOS: 'dnf update php-*' or 'yum update php-*'
  6. 6. Alternatively, download the latest version from windows.php.net for Windows or use a version manager like 'phpbrew' or 'brew' on macOS
  7. 7. After upgrading, verify the new version: 'php -v'
  8. 8. Ensure the installed version is at or above 8.2.31, 8.3.31, 8.4.21, or 8.5.6
Caveat Major PHP upgrades between branches (e.g., 8.2 to 8.3) may have breaking changes; review the migration guides at www.php.net/manual/en/migration83.php and test thoroughly before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in PHP Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
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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-2026-7261 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