CVE-2026-2471
Published: 28 February 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-2471 is a high-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Wordpress (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 21.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Likely Mitigating ControlsAI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Penetration testing supplies malicious serialized objects, detecting unsafe deserialization and supporting corrective actions.
Evaluation of untrusted data handling (deserialization testing) reveals unsafe processing, which the required remediation process addresses.
Untrusted serialized data can be deserialized and observed inside the chamber, blocking gadget-chain exploitation outside the sandbox.
Validates or rejects untrusted serialized data before deserialization occurs.
Identifies and blocks malicious code introduced through deserialization of untrusted data at system boundaries.
Integrity verification of serialized information can detect tampering before deserialization occurs.
Provenance of associated data allows detection of untrusted sources before deserialization or processing occurs.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
CVE enables T1190 via unauthenticated submission to public-facing WordPress forms triggering server-side deserialization; facilitates T1059.004 (Unix Shell) and T1505.003 (Web Shell) when a POP chain from another component achieves arbitrary code execution or file operations.
NVD Description
The WP Mail Logging plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 1.15.0 via deserialization of untrusted input from the email log message field. This is due to the `BaseModel` class constructor…
more
calling `maybe_unserialize()` on all properties retrieved from the database without validation. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject a PHP Object by submitting a double-serialized payload through any public-facing form that sends email (e.g., Contact Form 7). When the email is logged and subsequently viewed by an administrator, the malicious payload is deserialized into an arbitrary PHP object. No known POP chain is present in the vulnerable software, which means this vulnerability has no impact unless another plugin or theme containing a POP chain is installed on the site. If a POP chain is present via an additional plugin or theme installed on the target system, it may allow the attacker to perform actions like delete arbitrary files, retrieve sensitive data, or execute code depending on the POP chain present.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-2471 is a PHP Object Injection vulnerability (CWE-502) affecting the WP Mail Logging plugin for WordPress in all versions up to and including 1.15.0. The issue arises in the BaseModel class constructor, which calls maybe_unserialize() on all properties retrieved from the database without validation, specifically via deserialization of untrusted input from the email log message field. This flaw enables the injection of arbitrary PHP objects when malicious data is logged from emails.
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability by submitting a double-serialized payload through any public-facing form that sends email, such as Contact Form 7. The payload is logged and then deserialized into an arbitrary PHP object when an administrator views the email log. While no known Property-Oriented Programming (POP) chain exists in the WP Mail Logging plugin itself—resulting in no direct impact—exploitation requires another plugin or theme on the target site to provide a POP chain, potentially allowing actions like deleting arbitrary files, retrieving sensitive data, or executing code. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.5 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), reflecting high privileges required for impact due to admin interaction.
References include source code locations in the plugin's BaseModel.php, WPML_MailRenderer_AJAX_Handler.php, and WPML_Plugin.php files, as well as a WordPress plugin trac changeset comparing revisions (old: 3358334, new: 3464813) that likely documents the fix, and Wordfence threat intelligence detailing the vulnerability. No explicit patch version or mitigation steps are specified beyond these code changes.
Details
- CWE(s)