CVE-2026-27095: Bus Ticket Booking Plugin RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2026-27095 Overview

CVE-2026-27095 is a critical Insecure Deserialization vulnerability affecting the Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation plugin for WordPress, developed by magepeopleteam. The vulnerability allows attackers to perform PHP Object Injection attacks by exploiting improper handling of serialized data within the plugin.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this PHP Object Injection vulnerability to potentially achieve remote code execution, data manipulation, or complete site compromise depending on the availability of POP (Property-Oriented Programming) chains in the WordPress environment.

Affected Products

• Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation plugin for WordPress versions through 5.6.0
• WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of the plugin
• Any web server hosting affected WordPress installations

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-25 - CVE CVE-2026-27095 published to NVD
• 2026-03-26 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-27095

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from the deserialization of untrusted data (CWE-502) within the Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation WordPress plugin. PHP Object Injection vulnerabilities occur when user-controllable input is passed to PHP's unserialize() function without proper validation or sanitization.

When exploited, attackers can inject arbitrary PHP objects into the application. The impact depends heavily on the classes available in the application's scope at the time of deserialization. If suitable "magic methods" (such as __wakeup(), __destruct(), or __toString()) exist within loaded classes, attackers can chain these methods to achieve various malicious outcomes including file operations, database manipulation, or remote code execution.

The vulnerability is accessible over the network without requiring authentication or user interaction, making it particularly dangerous for publicly accessible WordPress sites running this booking plugin.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2026-27095 is the improper handling of serialized PHP data within the Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation plugin. The plugin fails to properly validate or sanitize user-supplied data before passing it to PHP's deserialization functions. This allows attackers to craft malicious serialized payloads that, when deserialized, instantiate arbitrary objects with attacker-controlled properties.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft a malicious serialized PHP object and submit it through vulnerable endpoints in the plugin. When the application deserializes this data, the injected object is instantiated, potentially triggering magic methods that can lead to code execution or other malicious activities.

The exploitation requires knowledge of available classes and their magic methods (POP chains) within the WordPress environment. Common gadget chains in WordPress plugins and themes can be leveraged to escalate the object injection to remote code execution.

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

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-27095

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual POST requests containing serialized PHP data (strings starting with O:, a:, or s:) targeting plugin endpoints
• Unexpected file creations or modifications in the WordPress installation directory
• Web server logs showing malformed or suspicious payloads to /wp-content/plugins/bus-ticket-booking-with-seat-reservation/ paths
• Anomalous process spawning from PHP or web server processes

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web application firewall (WAF) logs for serialized PHP object patterns in request bodies and parameters
• Implement intrusion detection rules to identify Base64-encoded serialized PHP payloads
• Review WordPress error logs for deserialization-related PHP errors or warnings
• Deploy file integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized changes to WordPress core and plugin files

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for the WordPress installation and review for suspicious activity
• Configure real-time alerting for requests containing serialized PHP patterns targeting the affected plugin
• Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for post-exploitation behavior
• Regularly audit installed WordPress plugins and their versions against known vulnerability databases

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-27095

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation plugin to the latest patched version immediately
• If an update is not immediately available, temporarily deactivate the plugin until a patch is released
• Implement web application firewall rules to block serialized PHP object patterns in requests
• Review server logs for any signs of previous exploitation attempts

Patch Information

Security patches are tracked through the plugin's official channels. According to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report, version 5.6.2 addresses this vulnerability. WordPress administrators should update to the latest available version through the WordPress plugin repository or directly from the vendor.

Workarounds

• Temporarily disable the Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation plugin if immediate patching is not possible
• Implement WAF rules to filter requests containing serialized PHP object patterns (e.g., block payloads matching O:[0-9]+:")
• Restrict access to the WordPress admin panel and plugin endpoints to trusted IP addresses
• Consider using a WordPress security plugin that provides virtual patching capabilities

# Example WAF rule pattern for ModSecurity to block PHP serialization attacks
SecRule REQUEST_BODY "@rx O:[0-9]+:\"[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*\"" \
    "id:1001,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'PHP Object Injection Attempt Blocked'"