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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

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…

HighCVSS 7.1 · v3.0—Proof of concept Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 39/100)

  • Public proof-of-concept code exists (Exploit-DB); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 38% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 98.5% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: wordpress (Debian:12) 4.6.1+dfsg-1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to wordpress (Debian:12) 4.6.1+dfsg-1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

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.

Published
Jan 18, 2017
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
38.0% · 98th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

39

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
28 / 40 · 7.1 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
11 / 30 · 38.0%

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Your free account also gets you

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  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools, at most 30 a day (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
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If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
wordpresswordpress

Using wordpress? Add it to your stack and be the first to know about CVEs like this one. (WordPress)

Watch new CVEs for wordpress

When you'll hear from us

  • when a new CVE affecting this product is published
  • when a record in your stack enters KEV or is weaponized

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits every 10 minutes on paid plans, on the hour on the free plan.

Your free account also gets you

  • CVE alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools, at most 30 a day (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
All free tools

Sign up with email · Have an account? Sign in

Free account, no card. Unfollow any time.

Don't want an account? Get "Exploited this week" by email every Monday

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • wordpress wordpress4.5.3

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12wordpressbefore 4.6.1+dfsg-14.6.1+dfsg-1

Same product

wordpress: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-87902An unauthenticated attacker can make `get_page_template()` page-template resolution include a chosen readable local `.php` file outside the…KEV
    91Now
  • CVE-2026-63030WordPress < 7.0.2 - REST API batch-route confusion and SQL injection issue leading to Remote Code ExecutionKEV
    72This week
  • CVE-2026-119977WordPress Core 4.7.0 - 7.1.3 - Unauthenticated Upgrade-Window Staged-Installer Remote Code ExecutionKEV
    62This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2017-5493Jan 14, 2017 · wp-includes/ms-functions.php in the Multisite WordPress API in WordPress before 4.7.1 does not properly choose random numbers for keys…
    31Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2016-10148Jan 18, 2017 · The wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 makes a get_plugin_data call before…
    17Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2016-6897Jan 18, 2017 · Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress…
    60This week

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:wordpress4.6.1+dfsg-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

  • Exploit-DB entry ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Exploit-DB entrywebapps2016-08-22

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.

  1. First PoC-150 d
  2. Published
  3. TodayNov 15, 2026+3587 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Not on record for this CVE: patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
low · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
Low
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

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

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

nvd-primary

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 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);res.sendFile(file);

Fixed

ts
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.

ATT&CK techniques

—

References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records