How PHP2Shell Works, and Why It Gives Attackers Access Before Your Code Even Runs
Knowledge
PHP2Shell, the pair of critical PHP vulnerabilities tracked as CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, has become one of the most heavily exploited bugs of the year. It was exploited four days before PHP released patches on October 21, added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and most recently used to break into Check Point Security Gateways and wipe VMware ESXi hosts. But how does it actually work? This post explains the vulnerability in plain terms, using technical research on th