Executive Summary

CVE-2026-40761 is a high-priority PHP Object Injection vulnerability affecting the WordPress Valeska Theme versions 1.2.2 and below.

This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to potentially execute code injection, SQL injection, path traversal, denial of service, and other malicious actions if a suitable POP chain exists.

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Impact Analysis

The vulnerability can lead to severe impacts including remote code execution, unauthorized database access through SQL injection, file system access via path traversal, and denial of service attacks.

Because it is exploitable without authentication, attackers can target thousands of websites running vulnerable versions of the Valeska theme, potentially causing widespread damage.

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Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate the CVE-2026-40761 vulnerability in the WordPress Valeska Theme versions 1.2.2 and below, users should immediately update the theme to version 1.3, which contains the patch for this issue.

If updating immediately is not possible, applying the mitigation rule provided by Patchstack to block attacks targeting this vulnerability is advised until the update can be completed.

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Compliance Impact

The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to perform code injection, SQL injection, path traversal, denial of service, and other malicious actions. Such exploits can lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, and service disruptions.

These impacts can compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, which are critical requirements under common standards and regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.

Failure to address this vulnerability in a timely manner could result in non-compliance with these regulations due to potential data breaches or unauthorized data manipulation.

Therefore, organizations using the affected Valeska theme versions should update to the patched version or apply mitigations immediately to maintain compliance.

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