October CMS: PHP Object Injection via Backend Widget Session StorageGHSA-2ff2-mx52-q8wp
LOWGHSA-2ff2-mx52-q8wp is a low-severity (CVSS 3.3) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in october/system. A fix is available for october/system — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-2ff2-mx52-q8wp.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
october/system🐘october/systemReal-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
The backend SessionMaker trait stored widget session state as base64(serialize(...)) and consumed it with unserialize() without an allowed_classes restriction. Any code path that could write to a widget.* session key with attacker-controlled bytes could trigger PHP object injection the next time the widget read its session state, allowing instantiation of arbitrary classes and reachable PHP gadget chains.
This issue only affects installations running with cms.safe_mode enabled. Safe Mode is a niche opt-in feature, primarily used for demo installations and multi-tenant or shared-editor scenarios where untrusted users are deliberately granted access to the CMS markup editor. In standard production deployments Safe Mode is off, backend access is restricted to trusted administrators, and a markup editor can already execute arbitrary PHP directly. The session-write path that reaches this sink is gated by the Safe Mode sandbox, so installations without Safe Mode enabled are not exposed.
Scope of impact is narrow even with Safe Mode enabled. The standard backend code paths that populate widget session state (search terms, sort options, selected IDs, filter values) wrap the input inside a known array shape before serializing, so user-supplied values never reach unserialize() as a controllable serialized payload. Exploitation requires the Safe Mode session-write path together with a suitable PHP gadget chain reachable from the installed dependency set. The hardening below removes the underlying object-injection sink so the class of issue is closed off regardless.
Impact
- Arbitrary PHP code execution as the web server user, via a gadget chain deserialized from a widget session key, triggered the next time the affected widget is rendered
- Requires
cms.safe_modeto be enabled, and a backend user with CMS markup editing access who is not intended to be trusted as a full administrator - A suitable PHP gadget chain must be reachable from the installed dependency set
- Not exploitable when Safe Mode is disabled
Patches
The vulnerability has been patched in v3.7.17 and v4.2.21. Two changes were applied:
Backend\Traits\SessionMakernow stores widget session state as plain JSON instead ofbase64(serialize(...)), eliminating the object-injection sink entirely for new writes. Reads transparently fall back to the legacy format for one upgrade cycle so existing sessions retain their saved widget state.- The legacy
unserialize()fallback path now setsallowed_classes => false, so even values written before the upgrade cannot instantiate objects.
Workarounds
If upgrading immediately is not possible, restrict CMS markup editing access to fully trusted administrators only, the standard October CMS recommendation for any deployment.
References
- Reported by EndlssNightmare
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | october/system | all versions | 3.7.17composer require october/system:^3.7.17 |
| 🐘Packagist | october/system | ≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.2.23 | 4.2.23composer require october/system:^4.2.23 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for october/system, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update october/system to 3.7.17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-2ff2-mx52-q8wp 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
Is GHSA-2ff2-mx52-q8wp in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.