High severity · published Jan 18, 2017
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…
7.1
CVSS
38.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)38.1% · higher than 99% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
WO
WordPress · WordPress
4.5.3 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6896
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-6896
Mailing List
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/20/1
www.securitytracker.com
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036683
Exploit
https://sumofpwn.nl/advisory/2016/path_traversal_vulnerability_in_wordpress_core_ajax_handlers.html
wpvulndb.com
https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8606
www.exploit-db.com
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40288/
More from WordPress
9.8
CVE-2026-63030
WordPress < 7.0.2 - REST API batch-route confusion and SQL injection issue leading to Remote Code Execution
9.8
CVE-2020-25213
WordPress File Manager Plugin Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
9.8
CVE-2016-10033
The mailSend function in the isMail transport in PHPMailer before 5.2.18 might allow remote attackers to pass extra parameters to the mail command and consequently execute…
8.1
CVE-2026-87902
WordPress Core Remote File Inclusion Vulnerability
7.5
CVE-2020-11738
WordPress Snap Creek Duplicator Plugin File Download Vulnerability