PHP2Shell exploit bypasses protections designed to stop remote code execution

Researchers have developed a new exploit that shows how even Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) on an x86-64 server cannot stop the PHP2Shell vulnerability. VulnCheck, which made it available to only the company’s Initial Access Intelligence customers, also warned that threat actors are using AI to find even more ways to attack.

The team told us that it’s a “significant advance” because up until now, ASLR has been a major barrier to exploiting PHP2Shell on real-world servers. They don't expect that to hold, though. “Adversaries are clearly spending time (and tokens) on this bug,” Spencer McIntyre, director of exploit development at VulnCheck, told The Register.

The PHP2Shell mess grew even bigger on Thursday amid reports of attackers abusing the security flaws days before they were disclosed and UK government websites proactively going dark.

Vulncheck's exploit targets CVE-2026-109618, a critical, out-of-memory corruption bug that leads to remote code execution (RCE) in PHP, and part of the PHP2Shell pair alongside CVE-2026-109619. …