Description

Unauthenticated PHP Object Injection in Tickera <= 3.6.0.2 versions.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "9.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-31T21:17:53.447Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-31T21:17:53.447Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical unauthenticated PHP Object Injection vulnerability has been identified within the Tickera WordPress plugin in versions up to and including 3.6.0.2. This vulnerability allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary PHP objects into the application scope, posing a severe threat to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the hosting server.\nThe security flaw arises from the insecure deserialization of user-supplied input processed by the plugin. By exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can trigger magic methods within the application's active PHP classes, potentially executing arbitrary code, performing unauthorized file operations, or manipulating database contents. Because this flaw requires no authentication or administrative privileges, any remote adversary with network access to the vulnerable application can initiate an exploit attempt, making it highly susceptible to automated scanning and exploitation.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the Tickera plugin's use of the native PHP unserialize() function on untrusted data input. In versions 3.6.0.2 and prior, the plugin processes HTTP request parameters, cookies, or database inputs populated by users without adequate validation, sanitation, or signature verification.\nPHP object serialization represents object instances as serialized strings (e.g., 'O:8:\"MyObject\":1:{...}'). When the application processes this input through unserialize(), PHP automatically instantiates the declared class and restores its state. During this deserialization lifecycle, PHP's engine automatically invokes predefined magic methods if they are implemented in the class or in any other class loaded in the PHP runtime environment. Common target magic methods include __wakeup(), __destruct(), __toString(), and __call().\nTo achieve remote code execution (RCE) or other malicious actions, attackers utilize a technique known as Property-Oriented Programming (POP). An attacker analyzes the codebase of the Tickera plugin, WordPress core, and other active plugins to construct a POP chain. This chain links the properties of the injected object to existing classes and methods that perform dangerous actions (such as file writes, system commands, or database queries) when triggered by the initial deserialization event.\nThe step-by-step attack flow occurs as follows: First, the attacker crafts a malicious serialized payload designed to hijack the control flow of active PHP classes upon instantiation. Second, the attacker sends an HTTP request containing this payload to an entry point in the Tickera plugin that processes user inputs via unserialize(). Third, the plugin parses the payload, causing the PHP engine to instantiate the injected class structure. Finally, the execution of the magic methods triggers the POP chain, executing arbitrary commands in the context of the web server user (such as www-data) without requiring any authentication credentials."
}