What is CVE-2018-14028?

CVE-2018-14028 is a high-severity vulnerability in WordPress, classified under Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type. CVSS score: 7.2/10. Published 2018-08-10.

How severe is CVE-2018-14028?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.2 out of 10.

Is CVE-2018-14028 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Arbitrary file upload in WordPress

CVE-2018-14028

In WordPress 4.9.7, plugins uploaded via the admin area are not verified as being ZIP files. This allows for PHP files to be uploaded. Once a PHP file is uploaded, the plugin extraction fails, but the PHP file remains in a predictable wp-content/uploads location, allowing for an attacker to then execute the file. This represents a security risk in limited scenarios where an attacker (who does have the required capabilities for plugin uploads) cannot simply place arbitrary PHP code into a valid plugin ZIP file and upload that plugin, because a machine's wp-content/plugins directory permissions were set up to block all new plugins.

Vulnerability class: Unrestricted File Upload

Published 2018-08-10 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.2 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.152 (96.7th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Moderate probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — watch for active exploitation reports. 97th percentile — 96.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.154 · newest: 0.152 · change: -0.001

Affected products

WordPress — versions 4.9.7

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-434 — Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/44710 (Third Party Advisory)
github.com/rastating/wordpress-exploit-framework/pull/52 (Third Party Advisory)
rastating.github.io/unrestricted-file-upload-via-plugin-uploader-in-wordpress/ (Third Party Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/105060 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-14028?: CVE-2018-14028 is a high-severity vulnerability in WordPress, classified under Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type. CVSS score: 7.2/10. Published 2018-08-10.
How severe is CVE-2018-14028?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.2 out of 10.
Is CVE-2018-14028 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.