Critical severity · published Aug 7, 2026
CVE-2026-16258
Ajax Search Lite < 4.14.5 - Unauthenticated PHP Object Injection via Search Statistics REST Endpoint
9.8
CVSS
0.8%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
The Ajax Search Lite WordPress plugin before 4.14.5 does not prevent the deserialization of untrusted input, allowing unauthenticated attackers to perform PHP Object Injection. When a suitable POP chain is present via another installed Ajax Search Lite WordPress plugin before 4.14.5 or , this can be leveraged to achieve Remote Code Execution.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.8% · higher than 58% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
AS
Ajax Search Lite ·
before 4.14.5 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16258
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16258
wpscan.com
https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/8487a2ce-cb4d-46b8-942e-334ac94cf115/
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