Exponential 6.0.13 Now Available

7x is very excited to announce the release of Exponential 6.0.13 to users worldwide, released on April 20, 2026. This release delivers critical security hardening, improved PHP 8.4/8.5 compatibility, a new SQLite3 driver, new template string operators, and an upgraded PHPUnit 13 test suite.

Key Highlights

• Critical Security Fixes — 6 SQL injection and OS shell injection attack surfaces closed. Parameterised queries and shell-argument escaping applied across 4 patched files.
• PHP 8 Session Compatibility — ezsession updated so read() returns an empty string instead of false, and globals are properly guarded during early bootstrap, eliminating type-error fatals on PHP 8.
• SQLite3 Driver — Autoload registration fixed, absolute DB paths now supported, and recursive directory creation added for first-run installations.
• New Template String Operators — rstring, ristring, str_pad, wordwrap, chunk_split, number_format, sprintf wrappers and more are now available directly in Exponential templates.
• PHPUnit 13 Test Suite — 6 new test files covering the security attack surfaces closed in this release. Bootstrap updated for full PHPUnit 13 compatibility.
• PHP 8.1 through 8.5 supported — No minimum PHP version requirement raised. Running PHP 8.3 or 8.5 is strongly recommended for best security.

Getting Started

• Download the release from GitHub or install via Composer.
• Review the full changelog on GitHub for a complete list of changes since 6.0.0.
• Read the security hardening reference in doc/hardening.md (1,176 lines) documenting every patch reference, vulnerability class, and fix applied.
• Check exponential.earth and get.exponential.earth for packages, extensions, and composer setup instructions.
• Turnkey Exponential CMS hosting is available at se7enx.com.

Get Support

The community is here to help. Join the conversation and get quick answers through any of the following channels:

• Share — Release Discussion Thread — join the dedicated thread for this release to share your experience and ask questions.
• Share — Community Forums — browse existing threads and post new questions.
• Telegram — @exponentialcms — real-time help and community discussion.
• GitHub Issues — report bugs or track known issues directly on the repository.

Thank you to everyone in the community who contributed, tested, and reported issues. Enjoy Exponential 6.0.13!