CVE-2026-25030: Goldish Object Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2026-25030 Overview

A critical Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability has been identified in the Goldish WordPress theme developed by park_of_ideas. This vulnerability allows attackers to perform PHP Object Injection attacks, potentially leading to remote code execution, data manipulation, or complete site compromise. The flaw stems from improper handling of serialized data input, enabling malicious actors to inject arbitrary PHP objects into the application.

Critical Impact

This PHP Object Injection vulnerability enables unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious serialized objects, potentially achieving remote code execution and full WordPress site compromise.

Affected Products

• Goldish WordPress Theme versions prior to 3.47
• WordPress installations using vulnerable Goldish theme versions

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-25 - CVE CVE-2026-25030 published to NVD
• 2026-03-26 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-25030

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data). PHP Object Injection vulnerabilities occur when user-controllable data is passed to the unserialize() function without proper validation or sanitization. When an attacker can control the serialized data, they can instantiate arbitrary PHP objects with attacker-controlled properties.

The Goldish WordPress theme fails to adequately validate serialized input before processing, allowing attackers to craft malicious serialized payloads. When these payloads are deserialized, magic methods such as __wakeup(), __destruct(), or __toString() can be triggered, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution if suitable "gadget chains" exist within the application or its dependencies.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the insecure use of PHP's unserialize() function on untrusted user input. The Goldish theme does not implement proper input validation, type checking, or allowlisting of expected object classes before deserializing data. This allows attackers to pass specially crafted serialized strings that instantiate dangerous objects when deserialized.

Attack Vector

This vulnerability is exploitable remotely over the network without requiring authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft a malicious serialized PHP object payload and submit it through vulnerable endpoints in the Goldish theme. Upon deserialization, the attacker-controlled object is instantiated, and depending on available gadget chains in WordPress core, the theme, or installed plugins, various malicious actions can be performed.

The exploitation typically involves:

1. Identifying an input vector that accepts serialized data
2. Analyzing available classes for exploitable magic methods
3. Constructing a Property-Oriented Programming (POP) chain
4. Submitting the malicious serialized payload to trigger code execution

For technical details on this vulnerability, refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-25030

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual serialized data patterns in web server access logs, particularly containing O: object notation
• Unexpected PHP object instantiation in application logs
• Web requests containing encoded or obfuscated serialized payloads targeting theme endpoints
• Unexplained file modifications or new files created in the WordPress installation

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web application firewall (WAF) logs for serialized PHP object patterns in request parameters
• Implement intrusion detection rules to identify unserialize() exploitation attempts
• Review WordPress error logs for unexpected object instantiation errors
• Deploy runtime application self-protection (RASP) solutions to detect deserialization attacks

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on the WordPress installation to capture suspicious requests
• Configure alerting for any modifications to theme files or WordPress core files
• Implement file integrity monitoring on the Goldish theme directory
• Monitor for unusual outbound network connections that may indicate successful exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-25030

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Goldish WordPress theme to version 3.47 or later immediately
• If updates are not available, consider temporarily disabling or removing the Goldish theme
• Review WordPress access logs for signs of exploitation attempts
• Conduct a security audit of the WordPress installation for signs of compromise
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to block serialized object injection attempts

Patch Information

The vulnerability affects Goldish theme versions prior to 3.47. Users should update to version 3.47 or later to remediate this vulnerability. The patch information is available through the Patchstack Vulnerability Advisory.

Workarounds

• Implement server-side input validation to reject serialized data patterns in user input
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall with rules specifically targeting PHP object injection patterns
• Consider using PHP's allowed_classes parameter if custom deserialization is required
• Restrict network access to the WordPress admin and theme endpoints where possible

# Example WAF rule pattern to detect serialized PHP objects
# Add to ModSecurity or similar WAF configuration
SecRule ARGS "@rx O:\d+:\"[^\"]+\":\d+:{" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    msg:'Potential PHP Object Injection Detected',\
    severity:'CRITICAL'"