CVE-2026-5478Everest Forms <= 3.4.4 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read and Deletion via Upload Field 'old_files' Parameter
- 8.1HighCVSS base score
- 1.0%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 36% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
The Everest Forms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Read and Deletion in all versions up to, and including, 3.4.4. This is due to the plugin trusting attacker-controlled old_files data from public form submissions as legitimate server-side upload state, and converting attacker-supplied URLs into local filesystem paths using regex-based string replacement without canonicalization or directory boundary enforcement. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary local files (e.g., wp-config.php) by injecting path-traversal payloads into the old_files upload field parameter, which are then attached to notification emails. The same path resolution is also used in the post-email cleanup routine, which calls unlink() on the resolved path, resulting in the targeted file being deleted after being attached. This can lead to full site compromise through disclosure of database credentials and authentication salts from wp-config.php, and denial of service through deletion of critical files. Prerequisite: The form must contain a file-upload or image-upload field, and disable storing entry information.
Timeline
ID reserved
By Wordfence
- 17 days later
· 17 days later
Published
- 1 day later
· 1 day 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordfenceCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High8.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 3.1 | High8.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 1.0% · top 36% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.1.
Affected products
References
References5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/8641eb53-6a9a-4549-b8ef-e37acbcc7f03?source=cve (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/everest-forms/tags/3.4.4/includes/abstracts/class-evf-form-fields-upload.php#L1306 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/everest-forms/tags/3.4.4/includes/abstracts/class-evf-form-fields-upload.php#L1665 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/everest-forms/tags/3.4.4/includes/abstracts/class-evf-form-fields-upload.php#L1581 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3507814/everest-forms (opens in a new tab)
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-2026-23941 (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-2026-5478)Record last updated .