Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner on PHP 8.6: deprecation notices and the fix

On PHP 8.6 (due 19 November 2026), Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 7.5.6 logs deprecation notices when the affected code runs. We found 6 places in its code that PHP 8.6 flags. Nothing stops working; the notices go to your PHP error log and show on pages where errors are displayed.

Tested on 28 October 2026 with the official PHP 8.6.0RC4 build and WordPress 7.1.1, plugin version 7.5.6 (1,000,000+ active installs) from WordPress.org, activated alone with default settings.

The messages you will see

Deprecated: Function mb_ereg_replace() is deprecated since 8.6

Deprecated: Function strcoll() is deprecated since 8.6

Deprecated: Function spl_object_hash() is deprecated since 8.6, consider using spl_object_id() instead

Where they come from

File:line	What	When PHP 8.6 complains	In our WordPress test
`assets/vendor/mpdf/mpdf/src/Mpdf.php:1149` (bundled library)	calls mbregex functions (`mb_ereg_*`) `$this->originalMbRegexEnc = mb_regex_encoding();`	When this code runs	not on the pages we opened
`assets/vendor/mpdf/mpdf/src/Mpdf.php:1423` (bundled library)	calls mbregex functions (`mb_ereg_*`) `@mb_regex_encoding('UTF-8'); // required only for mb_ereg... and mb_split functions`	When this code runs	not on the pages we opened
`assets/vendor/mpdf/mpdf/src/Mpdf.php:1573` (bundled library)	calls mbregex functions (`mb_ereg_*`) `@mb_regex_encoding($this->originalMbRegexEnc);`	When this code runs	not on the pages we opened
`assets/vendor/mpdf/mpdf/src/Mpdf.php:24140` (bundled library)	calls `strcoll()` `return strcoll(strtolower($a['uf']), strtolower($b['uf']));`	When this code runs	not on the pages we opened
`assets/vendor/myclabs/deep-copy/src/DeepCopy/DeepCopy.php:191` (bundled library)	calls `spl_object_hash()` `$objectHash = spl_object_hash($object);`	When this code runs	not on the pages we opened
`assets/vendor/setasign/fpdi/src/FpdiTrait.php:168` (bundled library)	calls `spl_object_hash()` `$id = \spl_object_hash($file);`	When this code runs	not on the pages we opened

The fix

Site owners: you don't need to change anything to keep the site working. Keep display_errors off on the live site, and update Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner when a release mentions PHP 8.6. If a notice shows on your pages, set define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); in wp-config.php.

Plugin developers, line by line:

calls mbregex functions (mb_ereg_*): Use preg_replace() / preg_split() with the /u flag; mbregex is deprecated.
calls strcoll(): Use Collator::compare() (intl) or a plain comparison.
calls spl_object_hash(): Use spl_object_id(), or update the bundled library that calls it.

What a PHP 8.6 deprecation notice does, and what it doesn't

Nothing stops working on PHP 8.6. A deprecation is a warning that the code will break in a future major version (PHP 9, no date yet). The plugin keeps working.
It lands in your logs. With log_errors on (the usual hosting default) every notice goes to the PHP error log, and with WP_DEBUG_LOG to wp-content/debug.log.
It can show on the page. If display_errors is on, or WP_DEBUG is on without WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY set to false, the notice is printed into the page. That breaks AJAX/JSON responses and can cause "headers already sent" warnings. Keep display off on live sites.
Compile-time notices are logged when PHP compiles the file. With OPcache that happens once after a restart or cache reset, so you see a few lines, not one per visit. Function notices (spl_object_hash(), is_integer()…) are logged every time that code runs.

All 39 affected plugins out of the 100 most popular, and the 61 with no findings: PHP 8.6 and WordPress plugins.

Sources

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