Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-18051 · published 19 August 2026
CVE-2026-18051: Path traversal vulnerability
The W3 Total Cache WordPress plugin before 2.10.5 does not properly validate the request path it uses to build cache file names, allowing unauthenticated attackers to write a file into any existing directory on the server, inside or outside the web root, overwriting whatever occupies the target name. On Apache, the same flaw overwrites the site's .htaccess files, which breaks the site and can strip hardening rules that other security measures rely on.
Description
The W3 Total Cache WordPress plugin before 2.10.5 does not properly validate the request path it uses to build cache file names, allowing unauthenticated attackers to write a file into any existing directory on the server, inside or outside the web root, overwriting whatever occupies the target name. On Apache, the same flaw overwrites the site's .htaccess files, which breaks the site and can strip hardening rules that other security measures rely on.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H
References
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Related vulnerabilities
Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-18051), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.