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CVE-2018-12895 affects WordPress through 4.9.6. The issue is caused by missing filename validation in the wp-includes/post.php wp_delete_attachment function. An attacker with a role that has file and post capabilities can leverage directory traversal via the wp-admin/post.php thumb parameter, which is ultimately passed to PHP's unlink function. By supplying a crafted path, the attacker can delete arbitrary files accessible to the WordPress process, including wp-config.php. Deletion of wp-config.php can then be abused to trigger the WordPress installation flow again, allowing the attacker to reinitialize the site and elevate privileges.
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1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.
This repository contains a single Metasploit auxiliary module (modules/auxiliary/scanner/http/wp_arbitrary_file_deletion.rb) that exploits CVE-2018-12895, an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in WordPress core. The exploit requires valid author-level credentials and interacts with the WordPress backend via HTTP requests to upload a dummy media file, manipulate its metadata, and trigger deletion of an attacker-specified file (default: wp-config.php). The module leverages several WordPress admin endpoints (/wp-admin/upload.php, /wp-admin/async-upload.php, /wp-admin/post.php, /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php) to perform the attack. Successful exploitation can lead to full site compromise or code execution. The code is written in Ruby and is designed to be run within the Metasploit framework.
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2 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.
No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.
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Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.