Critical security advisoryCriticalFlagged by our vulnerability database: PHP2Shell is on CISA’s exploited list. Most WordPress hosting runs PHP. See if your site is affectedFlagged by our vulnerability database: PHP2Shell is being exploited. DetailsExploited: PHP2Shell. Check your site
HuttenlocherTechnologies
CriticalCVSS 9.8Other software

CVE-2026-73193

DBI versions before 1.652 for Perl allow a heap out-of-bounds write on 32-bit perl via an integer wraparound in the output buffer size computed by preparse.

DBI versions before 1.652 for Perl allow a heap out-of-bounds write on 32-bit perl via an integer wraparound in the output buffer size computed by preparse. preparse reserves its output buffer with `newSV(strlen(statement) * 7 + 16)`, budgeting seven output bytes per input byte for the longest ':p99999' expansion. The product is computed in STRLEN, which is 32 bits wide on a 32-bit perl build, so a statement of 613,566,757 bytes multiplies to 4,294,967,299, wraps modulo 2^32 to 3, and reserves 19 bytes. The parser then copies the statement out through a raw pointer with no capacity check, writing the whole 585 MB input past the end of the allocation. The 99,999 placeholder limit does not bound this path, which is reached by ordinary non-placeholder content. Any caller that passes an untrusted statement of that length to preparse on a 32-bit perl gets a heap out-of-bounds write of attacker controlled bytes. Builds with a 64-bit STRLEN are not affected, since the wrap there needs a statement of about 2.3 exabytes.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e

What to do: Apply the vendor’s update. The NVD record links to the advisory.

What it means for a small business

If your business uses this software, install the vendor's update. If you're not sure whether you use it, ask whoever manages your computers.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.65%, higher than 51% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

  • Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
  • Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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