CVE-2018-12895
WordPress through 4.9.6 allows Author users to execute arbitrary code by leveraging directory traversal in the wp-admin/post.php thumb…
- 8.8HighCVSS base score
- 62.2%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.8% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
WordPress through 4.9.6 allows Author users to execute arbitrary code by leveraging directory traversal in the wp-admin/post.php thumb parameter, which is passed to the PHP unlink function and can delete the wp-config.php file. This is related to missing filename validation in the wp-includes/post.php wp_delete_attachment function. The attacker must have capabilities for files and posts that are normally available only to the Author, Editor, and Administrator roles. The attack methodology is to delete wp-config.php and then launch a new installation process to increase the attacker's privileges.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module for it.
Show the exploits1
Metasploit modules1 module
- Wordpress Arbitrary File Deletion (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
auxiliary/scanner/http/wp_arbitrary_file_deletionRank normaldisclosed 26 Jun 2018
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
Published
- 6 years later
· 6 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 | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 62.2% · top 0.8% of all CVEs (10 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
6
- https://blog.ripstech.com/2018/wordpress-file-delete-to-code-execution/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- 104569 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- DSA-4250 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9100 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- [debian-lts-announce] 20180730 [SECURITY] [DLA 1452-1] wordpress security update (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164633/WordPress-4.9.6-Arbitrary-File-Deletion.html (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)
- EUVD EUVD-2018-4848 (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-2018-12895)Record last updated .