Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-22451

CriticalRCE

Published: 05 March 2026

Published
05 March 2026
Modified
22 April 2026
KEV Added
—
Patch
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CVSS Score v3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0051 39.5th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-22451 is a critical-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 39.5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2026-22451 is a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability (CWE-502) in the AncoraThemes Handyman WordPress theme, also known as handyman-services, that allows Object Injection. This issue affects Handyman theme versions from n/a through 1.4.7. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), classifying it as critical due to its potential for severe impact.

Remote, unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and without requiring user interaction. Exploitation enables high-impact effects on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, leveraging object injection to potentially compromise the affected WordPress site.

Mitigation details are provided in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/handyman-services/vulnerability/wordpress-handyman-theme-1-4-php-object-injection-vulnerability?_s_id=cve. Security practitioners should review this reference for patching instructions specific to the Handyman theme versions up to 1.4.7.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A08:2025 Software or Data Integrity Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in AncoraThemes Handyman handyman-services allows Object Injection.This issue affects Handyman: from n/a through <= 1.4.7.

CWE(s)
CWE-502

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Direct remote unauthenticated exploitation of a public-facing WordPress application via PHP object injection/deserialization (CWE-502).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-62368Shared CWE-502
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CVE-2025-54014Shared CWE-502
CVE-2026-22505Shared CWE-502
CVE-2025-53078Shared CWE-502
CVE-2026-43633Shared CWE-502
CVE-2025-60039Shared CWE-502
CVE-2026-25429Shared CWE-502
CVE-2025-7697Shared CWE-502

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

SI-2 requires timely identification, reporting, and patching of system flaws, directly mitigating this deserialization vulnerability by applying the specific fix for affected Handyman theme versions.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

SI-10 mandates validation of untrusted information inputs, comprehensively preventing object injection by ensuring deserialization only processes safe, validated data.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning good match
detectrespond

RA-5 employs vulnerability scanning to identify critical flaws like this CVE in WordPress themes and initiate remediation.

References