How severe is CVE-2020-23653?

CVE-2020-23653 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-23653?

CVE-2020-23653 affects the following packages: zoujingli/thinkadmin (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2020-23653?

Update zoujingli/thinkadmin to 6.1.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-23653 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-23653 in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for zoujingli/thinkadmin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-23653 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.

Is CVE-2020-23653 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2020-23653, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-23653?

CVE-2020-23653 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 4.3%, placing it in the 91th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-23653?

CVE-2020-23653 is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2020-23653 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-23653 was published on January 13, 2021 and was last updated on October 20, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2020-23653 — thinkadmin

CRITICALFix: zoujingli/ThinkAdmin@640a61a

CVE-2020-23653 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in zoujingli/thinkadmin. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for zoujingli/thinkadmin — see the affected versions and patch details below.

ThinkAdmin insecure unserialize vulnerability

Also known asGHSA-4vp2-mj4m-69m4

Published

Jan 13, 2021

Updated

Oct 20, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 29, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

4.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk+0.18%

Lower risk than most CVEs91th percentile — riskier than 91% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐘zoujingli/thinkadmin

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

An insecure unserialize vulnerability was discovered in ThinkAdmin versions 4.x through 6.x in app/admin/controller/api/Update.php and app/wechat/controller/api/Push.php, which may lead to arbitrary remote code execution.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`zoujingli/thinkadmin`	≥ 4.0&&< 6.1.0	6.1.0`composer require zoujingli/thinkadmin:^6.1.0`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

thinkadminthinkadmin

≥ 4.0 && ≤ 6.0

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

An insecure unserialize vulnerability was discovered in ThinkAdmin versi…

github.comNVDJan 2021

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for zoujingli/thinkadmin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update zoujingli/thinkadmin to 6.1.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-23653 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-23653 in your dependencies?

Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

9.8/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE Classification

CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data

Weaponization

No Nuclei template or Metasploit module yet. 1 public proof-of-concept reference is listed on this page.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

ThinkAdmin

4.5/10

Code-Review0/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-Protection0/10

Assessed Oct 19, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Jan 13, 2021

First exploit

Jan 19, 2021

6 days after disclosure — rapid exploitation

Last updated

Oct 20, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2020-23653

GHSA-4vp2-mj4m-69m4

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2020 23653 Webgithub.com · 640a61ae0772dcd5209d74dff8ad373e61e8ad8c Webgithub.com · 6ccd4055fc40d2d7d154920a1859a7c19774bd1a Webgithub.com · b8a2ded90866a285e9022c842e546d8a6fa5fa6d Packagegithub.com · ThinkAdmin Evidencegithub.com

Related vulnerabilities

Also affects zoujingli/thinkadmin

This CVE is critical severity; 1 of 5 other CVEs affecting zoujingli/thinkadmin is rated as high or higher (top: critical).

CVE-2023-48966CVE-2020-25540CVE-2020-35296CVE-2019-11018CVE-2020-29315

Same weakness: CWE-502

This CVE is critical severity — higher than any of the other 3 CVEs with CWE-502 (highest there: high).

CVE-2026-115878CVE-2026-62848CVE-2026-115912Browse all CWE-502

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 20, 2026

CVE-2020-23653 — thinkadmin

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2020-23653 in your dependencies?