CVE-2018-20148 Deserialization in n/a

What is CVE-2018-20148?

CVE-2018-20148 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 14 Dec 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

In WordPress before 4.9.9 and 5.x before 5.0.1, contributors could conduct PHP object injection attacks via crafted metadata in a wp.getMediaItem XMLRPC call. This is caused by mishandling of serialized data at phar:// URLs in the wp_get_attachment_thumb_file function in wp-includes/post.php.

Weakness: CWE-502

Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20148?

It affects 2 products.

Products include Debian Debian Linux, Wordpress Wordpress.

How do I fix CVE-2018-20148?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade, and only deserialise data from trusted sources or with an allow-list of types. More about Unsafe deserialization.

Is CVE-2018-20148 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20148 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

• CVE-2015-3306 ProFTPD Improper Access Control Exploited Critical 10.0
• CVE-2025-49113 RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data Exploited Critical 9.9
• CVE-2026-24061 GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2025-39682 Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2024-9680 Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free Exploited Critical 9.8

All Debian Debian Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2018-20148, GHSA-jgj7-cghf-2wq9, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-20148.