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Vulnerability record · CVE-2016-6896 · published 18 January 2017

CVE-2016-6896: Wordpress path traversal vulnerability

Wordpress · Wordpress

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.

7.1 CVSS 3.0 High EPSS 38% · top 1.5% CWE-22 · Path traversal
7.1CVSS 3.0 base score, v2 5.5
38%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
10References, 2 tagged exploit
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

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

Affected products

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

References

LinkTags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/20/1 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036683
https://sumofpwn.nl/advisory/2016/path_traversal_vulnerability_in_wordpress_core_ajax_handlers.html ExploitTechnical DescriptionThird Party Advisory
https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8606
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40288/
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/20/1 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036683
https://sumofpwn.nl/advisory/2016/path_traversal_vulnerability_in_wordpress_core_ajax_handlers.html ExploitTechnical DescriptionThird Party Advisory
https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8606
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40288/

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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-2016-6896), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.