CVE-2016-6896 EXPLOIT
7.1
HIGH · CVSS 3.0 · EPSS 38.1% (pctl 99)
Patch early
A public exploit exists.
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.
Scoring
| CVSS | 7.1 (HIGH, v3.0) |
|---|---|
| Vector | CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H |
| EPSS | 38.07% — more likely to be exploited than 99% of all CVEs |
| Weakness | CWE-22 |
| On CISA KEV | no |
| Public exploit | yes |
| Published | 2017-01-18 |
| Last modified | 2026-06-17 |
Affected (1)
| Vendor | Product |
|---|---|
| wordpress | wordpress |
Public exploits
| Source | Title | Date |
|---|---|---|
| exploit-db | WordPress Core 4.5.3 - Directory Traversal / Denial of Service | 2016-08-22 |
References
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/20/1
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036683
- https://sumofpwn.nl/advisory/2016/path_traversal_vulnerability_in_wordpress_core_ajax_handlers.html
- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8606
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40288/
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/20/1
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036683
- https://sumofpwn.nl/advisory/2016/path_traversal_vulnerability_in_wordpress_core_ajax_handlers.html
- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8606
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40288/
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