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Vulnerability record · CVE-2009-2334 · published 10 July 2009

CVE-2009-2334: Wordpress improper authentication vulnerability

Wordpress · Wordpress

wp-admin/admin.php in WordPress and WordPress MU before 2.8.1 does not require administrative authentication to access the configuration of a plugin, which allows remote attackers to specify a configuration file in the page parameter to obtain sensitive information or modify this file, as demonstrated by the (1) collapsing-archives/options.txt, (2) akismet/readme.txt, (3) related-ways-to-take-action/options.php, (4) wp-security-scan/securityscan.php, and (5) wp-ids/ids-admin.php files. NOTE: this can be leveraged for cross-site scripting (XSS) and denial of service.

4.9 CVSS 2.0 Medium EPSS 6.3% · top 6.7% CWE-287 · Improper authentication
4.9CVSS 2.0 base score
6.3%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
2Affected product versions listed by NVD
28References, 6 tagged exploit
16 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

wp-admin/admin.php in WordPress and WordPress MU before 2.8.1 does not require administrative authentication to access the configuration of a plugin, which allows remote attackers to specify a configuration file in the page parameter to obtain sensitive information or modify this file, as demonstrated by the (1) collapsing-archives/options.txt, (2) akismet/readme.txt, (3) related-ways-to-take-action/options.php, (4) wp-security-scan/securityscan.php, and (5) wp-ids/ids-admin.php files. NOTE: this can be leveraged for cross-site scripting (XSS) and denial of service.

AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N

Affected products

2 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
http://corelabs.coresecurity.com/index.php?action=view&type=advisory&name=WordPress_Privileges_Unchecked Exploit
http://securitytracker.com/id?1022528
http://wordpress.org/development/2009/07/wordpress-2-8-1/ Vendor Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2009/dsa-1871
http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/9110
http://www.osvdb.org/55712 ExploitPatch
http://www.osvdb.org/55715 Patch
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/504795/100/0/threaded
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/35584 ExploitPatch
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1833 PatchVendor Advisory
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-August/msg00597.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-August/msg00608.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-July/msg00632.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-July/msg00676.html
http://corelabs.coresecurity.com/index.php?action=view&type=advisory&name=WordPress_Privileges_Unchecked Exploit
http://securitytracker.com/id?1022528
http://wordpress.org/development/2009/07/wordpress-2-8-1/ Vendor Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2009/dsa-1871
http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/9110
http://www.osvdb.org/55712 ExploitPatch
http://www.osvdb.org/55715 Patch
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/504795/100/0/threaded
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/35584 ExploitPatch
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1833 PatchVendor Advisory
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-August/msg00597.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-August/msg00608.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-July/msg00632.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-July/msg00676.html

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Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2009-2334), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.