VULNERABILITY INTELLIGENCE

CVE-2018-12895

CVSS score8.8 HIGH
EPSS probability62.16%
CISA KEVNot currently listed
Published2018-06-26
Last modified2026-06-17
CVSS vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Description

WordPress through 4.9.6 allows Author users to execute arbitrary code by leveraging directory traversal in the wp-admin/post.php thumb parameter, which is passed to the PHP unlink function and can delete the wp-config.php file. This is related to missing filename validation in the wp-includes/post.php wp_delete_attachment function. The attacker must have capabilities for files and posts that are normally available only to the Author, Editor, and Administrator roles. The attack methodology is to delete wp-config.php and then launch a new installation process to increase the attacker's privileges.

Weakness classification

  • CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Primary references