# CVE-2026-43642: Softaculous Virtualizor PHP Object Injection via Billing Module Handler

> Unauthenticated attackers can achieve remote code execution as root via PHP object injection in the billing module handler.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.2 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 1 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gjf4-862p-rg96

## What is CVE-2026-43642?

CVE-2026-43642 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Softaculous Virtualizor, published on 22 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Softaculous Virtualizor before 3.2.9 (Patch 9) and 3.0.0 contains a PHP object injection vulnerability in the billing module handler that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to supply arbitrary serialized PHP objects for deserialization by setting the act parameter to login with the from_billing_module parameter present. Attackers can pass malicious serialized data through the billing_data POST field to the unserialize() function without allowed_classes restrictions, enabling exploitation of available POP chains to achieve remote code execution as root.

Weakness: CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43642?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-43642?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-43642 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-43642 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43642 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-43642 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-43642 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Softaculous Virtualizor, published on 22 Sep 2026. 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-2026-43642 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Softaculous Virtualizor. 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-2026-43642/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43642/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43642
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43642
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43642

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43642/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.