Is this vulnerability remotely exploitable over the web?

Yes. If a user can reach the formula functionality through the web interface and supply crafted formulas, they may be able to trigger arbitrary PHP execution when those formulas are evaluated.

What level of access does an attacker need?

The attacker generally needs an account that can create or modify formulas. In many deployments, this may include roles such as reviewers, track chairs, or administrators, depending on how the feature is configured and exposed.

What is the safest general fix pattern?

The safest approach is to remove direct dynamic PHP generation from user-controlled input and instead evaluate formulas using a dedicated, sandboxed expression engine that enforces a strict grammar and treats all input purely as data.

Severity:

CRITICAL RISK

(9.9)

Improper Input Validation Leading to Arbitrary PHP Code Execution (CWE-20) in HotCRP Formula Engine

CVE-2026-23836

Published:

Jan 19, 2026

Status:

Awaiting Analysis

Summary

Affected Context

Exploit Preconditions

Why This Happens

Potential Impact

General Mitigation Guidance

How Teams Detect Issues Like This

Frequently Asked Questions

Source

NDV

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CRITICAL RISK

CRITICAL

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Account Takeover / Loss of Account Control

February 17, 2026

CWE-77;CWE-78

HIGH RISK

HIGH

(7.3)

OS Command Injection (CWE-78) in node-sonos-http-api TTS Provider for macOS

Remote Code Execution on the Server Host

February 17, 2026

Vulnerability Type

Category:

Improper Input Validation

CWE:

CWE-20

Impact:

Remote Code Execution

Severity:

CRITICAL RISK

(9.9)

CVSS Version:

3.1

Vulnerability Type

Category:

Improper Input Validation

CWE:

CWE-20

Impact:

Remote Code Execution

Severity:

CRITICAL RISK

(9.9)

CVSS Version:

3.1

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Ask AI for summary of CodeAnt

Improper Input Validation Leading to Arbitrary PHP Code Execution (CWE-20) in HotCRP Formula Engine

Summary

Affected Context

Exploit Preconditions

Why This Happens

Potential Impact

General Mitigation Guidance

How Teams Detect Issues Like This

Frequently Asked Questions

Source

Recent Vulnerabilities

CRITICAL RISK

CRITICAL

(9.8)

Missing Authentication for Forgot-Password Email Change API (CWE-306)

HIGH RISK

HIGH

(7.3)

OS Command Injection (CWE-78) in node-sonos-http-api TTS Provider for macOS

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Catch This CVE While Code Is Being Written

Ship clean & secure code faster

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