CVE-2016-6896
Status: ModifiedHigh (7.1)—💥 Exploit
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
- Version: 3.0
- Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
- Base score: 7.1
Exploitation probability (EPSS)
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 38%
- Percentile among all scored CVEs: 99
- Score date: 10/8/2026
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
💥 Public exploits
Exploit code or detection templates are publicly available. This is not the same as confirmed active exploitation (KEV), but it raises the risk: patch with priority.
- Published on Exploit-DB · WordPress Core 4.5.3 - Directory Traversal / Denial of Service (8/22/2016)
Affected technologies (1)
CWEs
- CWE-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/
Raw JSON (NVD)
Show
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