medium CVSS 5.5 EPSS 0.15%

CVE-2026-7260·PHP vulnerability

Circular symbolic links in phar archives could lead to unbounded recursion, exhausting the C stack and crashing the PHP process, in PHP versions from 8.2.* before 8.2.33, from 8.3.* before 8.3.33, from 8.4.* before 8.4.24, and from 8.5.* before 8.5.9.

Severity
medium
Software
PHP
Fixed in
8.5.9
Published

How likely is exploitation

FIRST's Exploit Prediction Scoring System puts the probability of this CVE being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.15% — higher than 5% of all published CVEs. EPSS is an independent forecast of exploitation, not a severity rating: it says nothing about how much damage a successful attack does, which is what a CVSS score measures.

Affected versions

From: 8.5.0

Until: 8.5.9

Fixed in: 8.5.9

How to fix this CVE

Update PHP to version 8.5.9 or later to patch the circular symbolic link vulnerability in phar archive handling. This vulnerability can cause the PHP process to crash due to unbounded recursion when processing maliciously crafted phar files. Administrators should prioritize this update for systems that handle phar archives or have untrusted file upload capabilities.

sudo dnf update php

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Step 1: Check your current PHP version by running: php -v
  2. Step 2: Verify if phar extension is enabled with: php -m | grep -i phar
  3. Step 3: Search application logs for segmentation faults or stack overflow messages related to phar processing: grep -i 'segfault\|stack overflow\|phar' /var/log/php-fpm.log /var/log/apache2/error.log
  4. Step 4: After updating, confirm the fix by running: php -v and verify the version is 8.5.9 or higher

FAQ

What is CVE-2026-7260?

This vulnerability allows an attacker to crash the PHP process by uploading or processing a phar archive containing circular symbolic links, which triggers unbounded recursion and exhausts the C stack.

Is CVE-2026-7260 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog and has no known public exploits, though it remains a denial-of-service risk if your application handles untrusted phar files.

What versions of PHP are affected by CVE-2026-7260?

PHP versions 8.2.0–8.2.32, 8.3.0–8.3.32, 8.4.0–8.4.23, and 8.5.0–8.5.8 are affected. Versions 8.2.33, 8.3.33, 8.4.24, and 8.5.9 and later contain the fix.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2026-7260?

Run php -v to check your version and confirm it falls within the vulnerable ranges listed above. Additionally, verify phar support is enabled with php -m | grep -i phar.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2026-7260?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If PHP is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2026-7260 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

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References

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