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…
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- mitre
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.
Public exploit
A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit or proof of concept: anyone can try it against an unpatched system.
- 40288 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 5 months later
· 5 months later
Published
- 8 years later
· 8 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.0 | High7.1 | CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 38.1% · top 1.4% of all CVEs (8 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.1.
Weakness
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References (5)
- 1036683 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACKx_transferred
- 40288 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- [oss-security] 20160820 Path traversal vulnerability in WordPress Core Ajax handlers (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- https://sumofpwn.nl/advisory/2016/path_traversal_vulnerability_in_wordpress_core_ajax_handlers.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8606 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2016-6896)Record last updated .