How should we interpret CVSS severity scores?

CVSS estimates technical severity, but it does not automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, asset criticality, known exploitation, and whether compensating controls exist. A Medium CVSS on an exposed production system can be more urgent than a Critical on an isolated non-production host.

Vulnerability Database

Q: What is a Vulnerability (CVE) and why does it matter?

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

Q: What's the difference between a vulnerability, an exploit, and a zero-day?

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. Risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Q: Why do vulnerabilities keep reappearing in our environment?

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete asset discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host.

Q: How do we prioritize remediation without burning out the team?

Use a repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress so remediation is steady, not reactive.

Q: How can SynScan help reduce vulnerability risk over time?

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.

352,212

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2026-45162 — pimcore / pimcore

Deserialization of Untrusted Data

GM-374

Summary

Multiple locations in Pimcore v11 call PHP's unserialize() on data from database columns and filesystem files without the allowed_classes restriction, enabling object injection if an attacker can control the serialized data source.

Affected Component

Package: pimcore/pimcore and pimcore/admin-ui-classic-bundle
Files:
- lib/Tool/Authentication.php (line 82) — session token deserialization
- models/Site/Dao.php (line 68) — site domains from database
- models/DataObject/ClassDefinition/CustomLayout/Dao.php (line 69) — layout definitions from database
- models/Tool/TmpStore/Dao.php (line 64) — temporary store data from database
- models/Asset/WebDAV/Service.php (line 36) — delete log from filesystem
- admin-ui-classic-bundle/src/Helper/Dashboard.php (line 64) — dashboard config from filesystem

Description

Six locations in Pimcore core call unserialize() directly (bypassing Tool\Serialize) on data sourced from database columns or filesystem files without passing the allowed_classes parameter. This means any class available in the autoloader will be instantiated during deserialization.

If an attacker can write to the data source (e.g., via SQL injection targeting the tmp_store, sites, or custom_layouts tables, or via a file write vulnerability targeting the WebDAV delete log), they can inject serialized PHP gadget chains that execute arbitrary code when the data is deserialized.

This is related to but distinct from the Tool\Serialize::unserialize() issue — these calls bypass the wrapper entirely.

Impact

PHP object injection leading to Remote Code Execution when chained with a data source write vulnerability. Pimcore's dependency tree (Guzzle, Symfony, Monolog, Doctrine) provides numerous known gadget chains.

Proof of Concept

Identify a writable data source (e.g., tmp_store table via SQL injection, or webdav-delete.dat via file write)
Write a serialized PHP gadget chain (e.g., Monolog BufferHandler chain from phpggc)
Trigger the deserialization (e.g., access a page that reads TmpStore, or trigger a WebDAV operation)
The gadget chain executes with web server privileges

Suggested Fix

Add allowed_classes parameter to all unserialize() calls. Where no objects are needed, use ['allowed_classes' => false]. Consider migrating to JSON serialization for data that doesn't require object preservation.

// Example fix for Site/Dao.php:
$siteDomains = unserialize($site[&#039;domains&#039;], [&#039;allowed_classes&#039; =&gt; false]);

// Example fix for TmpStore/Dao.php:
$item[&#039;data&#039;] = unserialize($item[&#039;data&#039;], [&#039;allowed_classes&#039; =&gt; false]);

Resources

CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data
OWASP Deserialization Cheat Sheet
phpggc: PHP Generic Gadget Chains

Published: May 27, 2026
Updated: May 28, 2026
CVE: CVE-2026-45162
GHSA: GHSA-36fc-7wjg-mfvj
Severity: High
Exploit:
CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

Severity: High
Score: 8
AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWEs:

CWE-502

OWASP TOP 10:

A8 - Insecure Deserialization

Affected Software
References

Software	From	Fixed in
pimcore / pimcore	-	12.3.7

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Vulnerability (CVE) and why does it matter?

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.