Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate with Test create/import permission
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DeliveryCraft malicious Test results archive
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ExploitInject serialized gadget in tst_sequence attribute
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ExecutionImport triggers unserialize() of attacker data
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PersistGuzzle/Monolog gadget chain writes PHP file
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ImpactExecute arbitrary code on server
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Safe deserialization, type allowlists
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires an authenticated ILIAS account holding the Test creation or Test import permission (PR:L); it is not reachable by anonymous visitors. The attacker must import a crafted Test results archive whose XML 'sequence' (tst_sequence) attribute contains a malicious PHP serialized object, which pre-patch code passes to unserialize() without allowed_classes restriction (see class.ilTestResultsImportParser.php and class.ilObjTest.php). Successful code execution further depends on the bundled Guzzle or Monolog libraries being present to supply usable POP gadget chains - which they are in standard ILIAS installs. Affected versions are ILIAS before 9.24, 10.12, and 11.5; the required permission and the import-only trigger path are the primary limiting factors on real-world risk. |
| Impact | This is a genuine high-priority vulnerability. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N) combined with full high impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability (VC:H/VI:H/VA:H) reflects a network-reachable, low-complexity flaw that yields remote code execution - the practical worst case for a web application. The one meaningful limiter is PR:L: the attacker must already hold an authenticated account with Test creation or import permission, which is why the score is 8.7 rather than a 9.x unauthenticated critical. This is a CWE-502 deserialization-to-RCE class issue, which historically correlates with real exploitation once gadget chains are public. No EPSS score, KEV listing, or published proof-of-concept was provided in the input, so there is no evidence of active exploitation yet; the signals are not conflicting so much as incomplete. The VulnCheck advisory and three vendor fix commits confirm the bug is real and well-understood, and the diffs explicitly show attacker-controlled data reaching unserialize() - meaning a working exploit is well within reach for a motivated authenticated adversary even though none is confirmed public today. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who holds (or phishes/registers) an ILIAS account with Test creation or import rights uploads a crafted Test results archive whose XML carries a malicious serialized 'sequence' attribute. When ILIAS imports the archive it passes that value to unserialize() without class restrictions, instantiating a Guzzle or Monolog gadget chain that writes a PHP webshell to disk and executes code in the application context. No public exploit was identified at time of analysis, but the vendor fix commits publicly reveal the vulnerable sink and the required attribute, lowering the barrier to weaponization. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 14, 2026
PHP object injection in ILIAS LMS affects installations before 9.24, 10.12, and 11.5, allowing an authenticated user who holds the Test creation or Test import permission to deserialize attacker-controlled objects by importing a crafted Test results archive. By embedding a malicious 'tst_sequence' (sequence) attribute in the archive XML, the attacker reaches an unrestricted unserialize() call and can leverage the bundled Guzzle or Monolog libraries as POP gadget chains to write PHP files and achieve remote code execution on the server. The primary limiting factor is the required authenticated account and import-level permission rather than any anonymous exposure; no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis and the flaw is not confirmed as actively exploited (no CISA KEV listing).
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor fix by upgrading to ILIAS 9.24, 10.12, or 11.5 depending on your branch (vendor-released patch: ILIAS 9.24, 10.12, and 11.5); the corresponding upstream commits are 267d4645ea940f8f97d1a9838deff6a12097564d, ac4684239641fb3dab2d636b53a61c46462d1208, and cf4e9c230edfd96fc94a1b1d355500aa8c6f1771, which add ['allowed_classes' => false] to the relevant unserialize() calls and route imported attributes through sanitizeSerializedIntList(). See the vendor blog at https://docu.ilias.de/go/blog/15821/952 and the advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ilias-before-9.24-10.12-and-11.5-php-object-injection-via-test-results-import for the official guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, the most effective compensating control is to revoke the Test creation and Test results-import permissions from all roles except a small, trusted set of administrators; the trade-off is that legitimate instructors and test authors lose the ability to create or import tests until the upgrade is deployed. Additionally, treat Test results archives from untrusted or user-supplied sources as hazardous and refuse to import them, and consider disabling the Test results-import feature entirely until patched - again at the cost of losing a legitimate grading/import workflow. Generic WAF inspection of multipart uploads cannot reliably normalise PHP serialized payloads inside XML attributes, so it should be regarded as only a partial backstop rather than a substitute for upgrading.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This is a classic PHP object injection (CWE-502, Insecure Deserialization). ILIAS's Test component imports results archives as XML, and the pre-patch parser in components/ILIAS/Test/classes/class.ilTestResultsImportParser.php took the XML 'sequence', 'postponed', and 'hidden' attributes straight into database fields, while class.ilObjTest.php (adjustTestSequence) and class.ilTestEvaluationFactory.php later passed the stored value into unserialize() without the allowed_classes restriction and without validating that the result was an array. Because serialized input was trusted, an attacker could supply a serialized object graph instead of the expected integer list; PHP instantiated whatever classes the attacker named, and magic methods (__destruct, __wakeup, __toString) in bundled Guzzle or Monolog classes provided usable gadget chains that ultimately let the attacker write arbitrary PHP files and execute code. The upstream fix blocks the class of attack in two ways: every unserialize() call is now invoked with ['allowed_classes' => false], and the new sanitizeSerializedIntList() helper in the import parser re-serializes only integer members, defaulting to a:0:{} for the sequence field and rejecting non-array payloads. Standard ILIAS deployments ship Guzzle and Monolog by default, so the gadget prerequisites are present without any additional attacker-side setup.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-reachable import feature with low complexity, but requires a low-privileged authenticated account with Test import permission (PR:L); object injection yields full RCE giving high C/I/A with no scope change.
Primary rating from Vendor (vulncheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: vulncheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
ILIAS before 9.24, 10.12, and 11.5 contains a PHP object injection vulnerability that allows authenticated users with Test creation or import permission to deserialize arbitrary objects via crafted Test archives. Attackers can inject a malicious tst_sequence sequence attribute that is passed to unserialize(), abusing Guzzle or Monolog gadget chains to write PHP files and execute code.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Insecure deserialization occurs when an application converts serialized data (a stream of bytes representing an object's state) back into a living object without proper validation.
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EUVD-2026-101561
GHSA-hvwc-vp6m-2mf8
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB