Path Traversal in Wordpress
CVE-2016-6896
Directory traversal vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress 4.5.3 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service or read certain text files via a .. (dot dot) in the plugin parameter to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php, as demonstrated by /dev/random read operations that deplete the entropy pool.
Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)
EPSS: 0.384 (98.4th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.1 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H.
Affected products
- Wordpress — versions 4.5.3
- N/a — versions n/a
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- cve@mitre.org (vdb-entry, x_refsource_SECTRACK)
- cve@mitre.org (exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB)
- cve@mitre.org (mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- cve@mitre.org (Technical Description, Exploit, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_MISC)
- cve@mitre.org (x_refsource_MISC)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2016-6896?
- CVE-2016-6896 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wordpress, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 7.1/10. Published 2017-01-18.
- How severe is CVE-2016-6896?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.1 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2016-6896 known to be exploited?
- 3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.