PHP Vulnerabilities: remote code execution threat

PHP developers have released patches for two critical vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code on the server without authentication.

PHP Vulnerabilities: remote code execution threat

Two critical vulnerabilities have been discovered in the popular PHP programming language. The vulnerabilities, identified as CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, allow attackers to remotely execute code on a server running PHP without authentication. The language’s development team has released updates for all supported branches, but the first attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities were observed even before the patches were published. The exploit has been named PHP2Shell.

The architectures of popular marketplaces, e-commerce platforms, and learning management systems (LMS) are written in PHP. In addition, PHP is used in various content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and so on, which power most websites on the internet.

In this blogpost, we discuss CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619 in detail, and explain how companies can protect their infrastructure. Read the Securelist expert blog to learn how events surrounding these vulnerabilities unfolded before the patch was released.

Vulnerable PHP versions

According to PHP web site, versions prior to 8.2.35, 8.3.36, 8.4.27, and 8.5.12 are vulnerable to CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619. There are no official fixes for older branches. According to unofficial reports, the vulnerabilities also affect PHP versions starting with 5.4.0.

What makes CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619 dangerous

Both vulnerabilities received a score of 9.2 on the CVSS v4.0 scale. They arise because, after a request is interrupted (for example, due to a memory shortage), PHP leaves invalid data in the memory buffer, and subsequently accesses it, allowing code to be executed on the server. One of the confirmed attack chains via CVE-2026-109619 exploits the `session.upload_progress` mechanism (which tracks file upload progress), which is enabled by default in PHP.

By exploiting these vulnerabilities, attackers can remotely execute code on the server with web server process privileges without authentication.

According to PHP developers, all installations of unpatched versions that process web requests are at risk, including PHP-FPM, Apache with mod_php, php-cgi, FrankenPHP, and LiteSpeed. The greatest risk lies with mod_php: researchers demonstrated an exploit for it in which an unauthenticated request triggers the attack even before the application code is executed.

What businesses should do

We’ve compiled key recommendations from the PHP developers and experts at Kaspersky.

  • Update PHP to versions 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36, or 8.2.35. Start with systems accessible from the internet. The source code is available on the PHP website. If PHP is installed from distribution packages or provided by your hosting provider, check for updated packages: Linux distributions and LTS vendors received patches in advance. If the server is managed by a hosting provider, ask them to apply the update.
  • Versions 8.1 and older no longer receive updates from the PHP project. Check with your distribution vendor or LTS support provider to see if backported fixes are available, or switch to a supported branch. For PHP 7.4, 8.0, and 8.1, the developers have prepared minimal source code backports for manual compilation. These can also be found on the PHP website.
  • Restart PHP-FPM or the web server so that the processes load the new code, and verify the version using the `php -v` command. If PHP was installed from distribution packages, check the package changelog: the version number may remain the same.
  • Check the logs from October 20. A warning sign is when the web server process is performing actions it shouldn’t (running command shells, curl, wget, and the like). Kaspersky solutions help detect malicious activity in a timely manner. Attempts to exploit the described RCE vulnerabilities on Linux and Windows machines can be detected using Kaspersky NEXT EDR Expert, while exploitation of PHP2Shell in network traffic is detected by Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack (KATA) with the NDR module.

If an immediate update is not possible

Only the immediate installation of patches will fully resolve the issue, but if that isn’t possible, it’s recommended to implement temporary measures. PHP developers provide step-by-step instructions for each vulnerability.

AI doxing tools: how online surveillance technology has changed

How AI tools are used for doxing

AI has learned how to quickly gather scattered details about a person, link their accounts together, and turn a digital footprint into a detailed dossier. We look at how artificial intelligence is changing doxing — and what you can do to make deanonymization harder.

AI doxing tools: how online surveillance technology has changed
Tips
  • For all other countries