CVE-2026-9282
W3 Total Cache <= 2.9.4 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read via 'f_array[]' Parameter
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 2.9%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 13% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
The W3 Total Cache plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 2.9.4 via the setupSources function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to read the contents of arbitrary files on the server, which can contain sensitive information. Exploitation requires enabling manual minify mode and supplying a manual-format minify filename so that the hash is empty and the f_array[] entries are not overwritten before reaching setupSources().
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Nuclei template for it.
Show the exploits1
Nuclei templates1 template
- W3 Total Cache <= 2.9.4 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read (Nuclei template) (opens in a new tab)
http/cves/2026/CVE-2026-9282.yamlSeverity high
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 Wordfence
- 50 days later
· 50 days later
Published
- 3 days later
· 3 days 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 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 2.9% · top 13% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
- affected ≤ 2.9.4
References
References6
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e92cc06d-006f-4bba-a4ef-b23d80c00085?source=cve (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.9.4/lib/Minify/Minify/Controller/MinApp.php#L163 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.9.4/lib/Minify/Minify/Controller/MinApp.php#L109 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.9.4/Minify_MinifiedFileRequestHandler.php#L191 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.9.4/Minify_Plugin.php#L132 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3585227%40w3-total-cache&new=3585227%40w3-total-cache (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-2026-43164 (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-2026-9282)Record last updated .