CVE-2026-82814: Duplicator PHP object injection vulnerability
high 8.8 published 2026-10-21 · updated 2026-10-22
- Affected versions
- 1.5.17 and older
- Fixed in
- 5.0.0 *
- Latest version
- 5.1.0
- Severity
- High · CVSS 8.8
- Active installs
- 1+ million
- Type
- PHP object injection
* The source does not name a fixed version; this is the first wordpress.org release after the last affected version.
What an attacker needs
- Access: None. No account or login is needed.
- Interaction: It also needs someone on the site (often an admin) to click a link, open a page or submit a form the attacker prepared.
CVSS vector (score by Wordfence): CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
What to do now
- Update Duplicator to 5.0.0 or newer (the latest is 5.1.0): Dashboard → Updates, or Plugins → “update now”.
- If you cannot update right away, deactivate it until you can.
- Turn on auto-updates for it: Plugins → “Enable auto-updates” on its row.
- Not sure which version you run? Check your version against every known Duplicator issue.
With WP-CLI:
wp plugin get duplicator --field=version. - If you ran an affected version and something looks off (new admin users, spam pages, redirects), run the free scan below.
The advisory
The Duplicator and Duplicator Pro plugins for WordPress are vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 1.5.17 and 4.6.10, respectively, via deserialization of untrusted database content in DUPX_UpdateEngine::unserializeTest() during migration. This allows unauthenticated attackers to store a serialized object in public site content before an administrator builds a package and later performs a migration or import that runs database search-and-replace. Duplicator Free bundles a Requests 1.7 POP chain that permits attacker-selected callbacks, resulting in direct operating-system command execution. Duplicator Pro bundles an IndexList destructor gadget that permits deletion of an attacker-selected existing file when its containing directory is writable by the installer PHP process; deletion of wp-config.php can expose the setup wizard and lead to site takeover and code execution if the attacker reaches it first and supplies a reachable database they control. The package must be created after the carrier is stored, and a later administrator migration action is required.
References
- NVD CVE-2026-82814 nvd.nist.gov
- Wordfence advisory www.wordfence.com
- Code change (fix) plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- duplicator.com duplicator.com
Related
Ran an affected version? Check your site for signs of a hack
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Where this data comes from
- CVE record, score and references: NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), checked 2026-11-04. This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Versions and install counts: wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator (Plugins API), fetched 2026-11-01.
- The summary, “what an attacker needs” and “what to do” sections are our plain-English reading of the record and the plugin's release history; the quoted description is the record's own text. Spot an error? Email Daniel.