Unsafe Deserialization in rmccue/requests (CVE-2021-29476)
Summary
Vulnerability in rmccue/requests (CVE-2021-29476). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Exploitable via Requests. Mitigation: upgrade to 1.8.0 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Impact
Unserialization of untrusted data.
Patches
The issue has been patched and users of Requests 1.6.0, 1.6.1 and 1.7.0 should update to version 1.8.0.
References
Publications about the vulnerability:
- https://dannewitz.ninja/posts/php-unserialize-object-injection-yet-another-stars-rating-wordpress
- https://github.com/ambionics/phpggc/issues/52
- https://blog.detectify.com/2019/07/23/improving-wordpress-plugin-security/
- https://i.blackhat.com/us-18/Thu-August-9/us-18-Thomas-Its-A-PHP-Unserialization-Vulnerability-Jim-But-Not-As-We-Know-It.pdf
- https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/3853213/us-18-Thomas-It%27s-A-PHP-Unserialization-Vulnerability-Jim-But-Not-As-We-....pdf
- https://2018.zeronights.ru/wp-content/uploads/materials/9%20ZN2018%20WV%20-%20PHP%20unserialize.pdf
- https://medium.com/@knownsec404team/extend-the-attack-surface-of-php-deserialization-vulnerability-via-phar-d6455c6a1066#3c0f
Originally fixed in WordPress 5.5.2:
- https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/add6bedf3a53b647d0ebda2970057912d3cd79d3
- https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-5-2-security-and-maintenance-release/
Related Security Advisories:
- https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2020-28032
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-28032
Notification to the Requests repo including a fix in:
For more information
If you have any questions or comments…
Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD GitHub Advisory OSV
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2021-29476 has been found in rmccue/requests.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like Requests over the network to misuse the product.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
What to do: upgrade rmccue/requests to 1.8.0 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "rmccue/requests CVE-2021-29476" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2021-29476 (rmccue/requests) — CWE-502
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Attack surface: Requests
Patched: 1.8.0 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
Unsafe deserialization (CWE-502) exists in rmccue/requests. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via Requests without authentication.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of rmccue/requests. Attack surface: Requests.
Severity: ?. Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 1.8.0.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'rmccue/requests' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'rmccue/requests' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
rmccue/requestsを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade rmccue/requests to 1.8.0ステージング環境で 1.8.0 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
-
3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2021-29476 wordpress Fixed in: 5.5.3+dfsg1-1
References
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web 2018.zeronights.ru
- web blog.detectify.com
- web cdn2.hubspot.net
- web dannewitz.ninja
- web github.com
- web i.blackhat.com
- web medium.com
- web wordpress.org