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 9.3WordPress plugins & themes

CVE-2017-20251

WordPress Insert PHP plugin versions before 3.3.1 contain a PHP code injection vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code

WordPress Insert PHP plugin versions before 3.3.1 contain a PHP code injection vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code by injecting malicious shortcodes through the WordPress REST API. Attackers can send POST requests to the wp-json/wp/v2/posts endpoint with crafted content containing insert_php shortcodes to include and execute remote PHP files on the server.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by VulnCheck

What to do: Update the plugin to 3.3.1 or newer.

What it means for a small business

this software is a WordPress plugin. If your website uses it, the flaw is on your site whether or not anyone has noticed yet: attackers scan the whole internet for the plugins with published flaws, usually within days of a record like this one going public.

Most small-business sites run 15 to 40 plugins, and few owners know the list. You can check from WordPress itself (Plugins, then Installed Plugins), or let our free plugin check look it up by name.

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.

Weekly security brief

The flaws that hit local websites, every Friday.

One short email: what got exploited this week, which WordPress plugins broke, and what to check. Unsubscribe in one click.

Get in touch

Tell us what you're building.

A website, your marketing, a security check, an app, or the thing you've been running out of a spreadsheet for three years. A few lines is plenty.

01The person who'll do the work writes back
02A short call, then a written plan with the price
03Nothing starts until you say yes
04Hacked or down right now? Call, and we pick up the same day
843-331-6339

Not ready to talk yet? Run the free website check and see what Google sees.

What do you need?
Build
Grow
Protect
Urgent

No newsletter, no sales sequence. Just a reply.