# CVE-2018-20987: Deserialization in n/a

> An attacker can exploit PHP object injection in the Newsletters Lite plugin to potentially execute arbitrary code on the WordPress site.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Aug 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vp4q-fgmr-qhqc

## What is CVE-2018-20987?

CVE-2018-20987 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Aug 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The newsletters-lite plugin before 4.6.8.6 for WordPress has PHP object injection.

Weakness: CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20987?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Tribulant Newsletters.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-20987?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-20987 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-20987 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20987 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2024-8247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-8247/): Newsletters <= 4.9.9.2 - Authenticated Privilege Escalation (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-14788](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14788/): Path traversal in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-4857](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-4857/): Newsletters <= 4.9.9.9 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Local File Inclusion (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2023-4797](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4797/): Newsletter Lite < 4.9.3 - Admin+ Command Injection (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2024-35718](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35718/): WordPress Newsletters plugin <= 4.9.5 - Reflected Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability (high 7.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-20987 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-20987 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Aug 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20987 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20987/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20987/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20987
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20987
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-20987

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20987/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.