What the vulnerability does
01Description
The Empowerment theme for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.2 via deserialization of untrusted input. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to inject a PHP Object. No known POP chain is present in the vulnerable software. If a POP chain is present via an additional plugin or theme installed on the target system, it could allow the attacker to delete arbitrary files, retrieve sensitive data, or execute code.
Explanation of Vulnerability in Simple Terms
02Summary
Empowerment versions 1.0.2 and earlier contain a deserialization vulnerability that allows authenticated users to execute arbitrary code on the site. An attacker with low-level access can craft malicious serialized data to trigger code execution with full site privileges. This affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the entire installation.
What an attacker can do
03Attacker Capabilities
Run arbitrary code on the site with full administrative privileges.
Potential impact on your site
04Site Impact
Complete compromise of the site, including data theft, malware injection, and service disruption.
Conditions required to exploit
05Prerequisites
Attacker must have a low-privilege user account on the site.
Key dates
06Disclosure timeline
October 1, 2024
CVE published
April 8, 2026
Record updated
