# CVE-2020-36726: Ultimate Reviews < 2.1.33 - PHP Object Injection

> Unauthenticated attackers can inject PHP objects via deserialization in the Ultimate Reviews WordPress plugin, potentially leading to code execution.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/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:** 7 Jun 2023
- **Updated:** 8 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p7jf-6m2v-3ffq

## What is CVE-2020-36726?

CVE-2020-36726 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in rustaurius Ultimate Reviews, published on 7 Jun 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Ultimate Reviews plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in versions up to, and including, 2.1.32 via deserialization of untrusted input in several vulnerable functions. This allows unauthenticated attackers to inject a PHP Object. No POP chain is present in the vulnerable plugin.

Weakness: CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-36726?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Etoilewebdesign Ultimate Reviews.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-36726?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-36726 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-36726 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-36726 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in rustaurius Ultimate Reviews

- [CVE-2024-25597](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-25597/): WordPress Ultimate Reviews plugin <= 3.2.8 - Unauthenticated Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2022-23979](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23979/): WordPress Ultimate Reviews plugin <= 3.0.15 - Authenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability (medium 4.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-36726 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-36726 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in rustaurius Ultimate Reviews, published on 7 Jun 2023. 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-2020-36726 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: rustaurius Ultimate Reviews. 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-2020-36726/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36726/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-36726
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-36726
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-36726

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36726/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.