CVE-2018-20148

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-05-14. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 3 sources updated this weekElevated
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • 1 internet-exposed host is running an affected version right now
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 31%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 1

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

In WordPress before 4.9.9 and 5.x before 5.0.1, contributors could conduct PHP object injection attacks via crafted metadata in a wp.getMediaItem XMLRPC call. This is caused by mishandling of serialized data at phar:// URLs in the wp_get_attachment_thumb_file function in wp-includes/post.php.

Live · internet exposure

1 internet-exposed host is running an affected version of CVE-2018-20148 right now.

across 1 countries (Hong Kong)top: wordpress
See the live KEV-Exposure radar →Found passively from public internet-scan data — aggregate, host-redacted.

EchelonGraph is the only CVE feed that fuses live vulnerability intelligence with its own live internet-exposure radar — so you see not just that a CVE is exploited, but how much of the internet is exposed to it right now.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EG Risk
65(Track*)
EG Risk 65/100SSVC: Track*

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation40% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Watch closely — could escalate to Attend.
EPSS
98.1%
KEV
Not listed

Published

December 14, 2018

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

Advisory Details (8)

Auto-updated Jul 9, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available.
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

Severe vulnerability exposes WordPress websites to attack | ZDNET

https://www.zdnet.com/article/wordpress-vulnerability-affects-a-third-of-most-popular-websites-online/
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

WordPress plugs bug that led to Google indexing some user passwords | ZDNET

https://www.zdnet.com/article/wordpress-plugs-bug-that-led-to-google-indexing-some-user-passwords/
generic

[SECURITY] [DSA 4401-1] wordpress security update

https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4401
generic Patch Available

Version 5.0.1 – Documentation – WordPress.org

https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-0-1/
generic Patch Available

WordPress 5.0.1 Security Release – WordPress News

https://wordpress.org/news/2018/12/wordpress-5-0-1-security-release/
generic Patch Available

[SECURITY] [DLA 1673-1] wordpress security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/02/msg00019.html
generic

Version 4.9.9 – Documentation – WordPress.org

https://codex.wordpress.org/Version_4.9.9
generic
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106220

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 11× in last 7d / 40× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-23 01:35 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-07-22 22:15 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-21 01:47 UTCOSV refresh
  6. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
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  24. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
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Show 55 more
  1. 2026-07-03 20:56 UTCOSV refresh
  2. 2026-07-02 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
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  5. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
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  7. 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
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  9. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
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  11. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
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  16. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
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  18. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
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  24. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-15 08:43 UTCOSV refresh
  26. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
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  31. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
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  39. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
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  42. 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
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  44. 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
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  47. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-05-28 00:17 UTCEG score recompute
  51. 2026-05-28 00:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  53. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 GitHub PoC). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoCnth347/CVE-2018-20148_exploit
    First seen Nov 16, 2021

    Exploit for CVE-2018-20148 - WordPress PHAR deserialization via XMLRPC

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2018-20148?
CVE-2018-20148 is a critical vulnerability published on December 14, 2018. In WordPress before 4.9.9 and 5.x before 5.0.1, contributors could conduct PHP object injection attacks via crafted metadata in a wp.getMediaItem XMLRPC call. This is caused by mishandling of serialized data at phar:// URLs in the wpgetattachmentthumbfile function in wp-includes/post.php.
When was CVE-2018-20148 disclosed?
CVE-2018-20148 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on December 14, 2018, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2018-20148 actively exploited?
CVE-2018-20148 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 98.1% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-20148?
CVE-2018-20148 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2018-20148?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2018-20148, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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