Fluent Forms <= 6.2.1 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Arbitrary File Read via Path Traversal in Email Attachment
The Fluent Forms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Read in versions up to and including 6.2.1. This is due to insufficient path validation in the getAttachments() method of EmailNotificationActions, which resolves attacker-supplied file-upload URLs into filesystem paths without verifying that the resolved path stays inside the WordPress uploads directory: a strpos() prefix check on the raw URL can be bypassed with traversal sequences, wp_normalize_path() does not resolve ".\..\" segments, and file_exists() then resolves them at the kernel level. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with administrator access to read arbitrary files readable by the web-server user — including wp-config.php with its database credentials and authentication salts — by submitting a form whose admin notification is configured to attach a file-upload field and supplying a crafted URL of the shape <upload_baseurl>/../../<target> as the file-field value. The resolved file is attached to the outbound admin-notification email via wp_mail(). While the email can be triggered by unauthenticated users, the email recipient is not user-controlled.
- Published
- May 6, 2026
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.8% · 56th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-22
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Report tools
Action score
19
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 19 / 40 · 4.9 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.8%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- —
- CNA · Wordfence
- 4.9
- NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Affected systems
—
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Wordfence). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
techjewel Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder
- up to and including 6.2.1affected · semver
Same product
techjewel: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2026-5395Fluent Forms <= 6.2.0 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Authorization Bypass via 'table' Parameter32Monitor
- CVE-2026-5396Fluent Forms <= 6.1.21 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Authorization Bypass via 'form_id' Parameter32Monitor
- CVE-2025-9260Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 5.1.16 - 6.1.1 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) PHP Object Injection To Arbi26Monitor
- CVE-2026-6828Fluent Forms <= 6.2.1 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'permission_message' Shortcode Attribute25Monitor
- CVE-2026-0996Fluent Forms <= 6.1.14 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via AI Form Builder Module25Monitor
- CVE-2025-3615Fluent Forms <= 6.0.2 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting25Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
- Niv KochanPatchstack Bug Bounty Programfinder
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- Administrator privileges are required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- none
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
nvd-secondary
Root cause
A user-supplied file name is joined with the allowed directory, but the result is never checked to confirm it is still inside that directory.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-22 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);res.sendFile(file);Fixed
const file = path.resolve(ROOT, req.query.name);if (!file.startsWith(ROOT + path.sep)) { return res.sendStatus(400);}res.sendFile(file);Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
- Path TraversalCAPEC-126likelihood: High · Very High
- Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation LogicCAPEC-64likelihood: High · High
- Manipulating Web Input to File System CallsCAPEC-76likelihood: High · Very High
- Using Escaped Slashes in Alternate EncodingCAPEC-78likelihood: High · High
- Using Slashes in Alternate EncodingCAPEC-79likelihood: High · High
ATT&CK techniques
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Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fluentform/trunk/app/Hooks/Ajax.php#L17
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fluentform/trunk/app/Modules/SubmissionHandler/SubmissionHandler.php#L17
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fluentform/trunk/app/Services/FormBuilder/Notifications/EmailNotificationActions.php#L121
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fluentform/trunk/app/Services/FormBuilder/Notifications/EmailNotificationActions.php#L130
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fluentform/trunk/app/Services/FormBuilder/Notifications/EmailNotificationActions.php#L133
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fluentform/trunk/app/Services/FormBuilder/Notifications/EmailNotificationActions.php#L135
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fluentform/trunk/app/Services/FormBuilder/Notifications/EmailNotificationActions.php#L137
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fluentform/trunk/app/Services/FormBuilder/Notifications/EmailNotificationActions.php#L151
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3513845/fluentform/trunk/app/Services/FormBuilder/Notifications/EmailNotificationActions.php
- www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0101113b-70c2-4db4-b6b1-b2412f6e1214?source=cve
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.