Path Traversal in WordPress (CVE-2016-6896)
Summary
Path traversal in WordPress (CVE-2016-6896). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
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.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2016-6896 has been found in WordPress.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. CVSS score: 7.1/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "WordPress CVE-2016-6896" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2016-6896 (WordPress) — CWE-22 / CVSS v3 7.1
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
Path traversal (CWE-22) exists in WordPress.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of WordPress.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.1/10). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'WordPress' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'WordPress' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
WordPressを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2016-6896 wordpress Fixed in: 4.6.1+dfsg-1
References
- advisory openwall.com
- exploit sumofpwn.nl
- web securitytracker.com
- web wpvulndb.com
- web exploit-db.com