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PHP2Shell Vulnerability (CVE-2026-109618 / CVE-2026-109619) – Zebra Customer Information

Zebra status
Zebra has assessed the services and applications it delivers to customers for exposure to the PHP2Shell vulnerabilities, and each has been confirmed as either already patched or not affected. Zebra has also identified its other systems affected by PHP2Shell and is actively applying patches, with patching of all impacted systems expected to be completed today, October 22, 2026. As a precaution, impacted web-facing systems have been taken offline and will remain offline until the patch has been applied.

 

Overview
On October 21, 2026, the PHP project released emergency security updates for two critical vulnerabilities in PHP, the open-source web scripting language. The flaws are tracked as CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619 and are collectively called PHP2Shell.

Both flaws involve how PHP handles memory during web requests. They could allow an unauthenticated attacker to run code on a vulnerable web server. The PHP project rates both 9.2 out of 10 under CVSS 4.0 and states that updating is the only complete fix.

 

Technical details

CVE-2026-109618: out-of-memory handling

This flaw comes from how PHP responded when it ran out of memory. PHP used a mechanism called longjmp() to exit the current operation abruptly. In some cases, that exit left request data only partly initialized. PHP’s later shutdown process could then act on the invalid data, creating a path to remote code execution.

According to the PHP advisory, multipart form data can help trigger the condition. Examples include a request with many headers within one part, or many empty file fields that still cause PHP to create metadata.

Fix: PHP now delays a graceful out-of-memory error until a safe point instead of exiting abruptly. A separate hard limit handles more severe memory pressure.

CVE-2026-109619: stale state in long-running workers

This flaw involves stale global state in long-running PHP workers. A worker may keep a reference to memory from a request after PHP has freed that memory. If an error interrupts cleanup and a later request reaches that leftover state before it is reset, the worker may use invalid memory.

Because web workers handle requests one after another, state left by one request can affect a later one. The advisory’s confirmed paths involve fatal errors, error-reporting data, and session upload-progress handling. Confirmed cases include a mod_php scenario and a PHP-FPM path that depends on application behavior.

Whether a specific server is exposed depends on its PHP setup, configuration, application, and extensions. These factors do not reduce the urgency of patching.

Fix: PHP now resets a wider range of request-related global state, so a worker is less likely to carry invalid references between requests.

 

Updates and contact
This is an ongoing event. Zebra will continue to provide updates through your account team and our customer communication channels, and our support page will be updated as new information becomes available. Questions can be directed to productsecurity@zebra.com.

 

Sources

This information is intended for the recipient organization’s internal use only. It reflects Zebra’s understanding as of October 22, 2026, and may be updated.

Disclaimer: Zebra makes every attempt to release security updates on or about the time that Google releases its respective security bulletin. However, delivery time of security updates may vary depending on the region, product model, and third party software suppliers. Under some circumstances, the OS must be updated to the latest maintenance release prior to installing the security updates. Individual product updates will provide specific guidance.

Unless otherwise noted, there have been no reports of active customer exploitation or abuse from these newly reported issues.

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