CVE-2016-6896

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.

• CWE-22

• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/20/1Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
• http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036683
• https://sumofpwn.nl/advisory/2016/path_traversal_vulnerability_in_wordpress_core_ajax_handlers.htmlExploit, Technical Description, Third Party Advisory
• https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8606
• https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40288/
• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/20/1Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
• http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036683
• https://sumofpwn.nl/advisory/2016/path_traversal_vulnerability_in_wordpress_core_ajax_handlers.htmlExploit, Technical Description, Third Party Advisory
• https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8606
• https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40288/

Published

Jan 18, 2017

Last Modified

Jun 17, 2026

Status

Modified

• How Strix found a critical auth bypass in etcdStrix autonomously discovered a critical authentication bypass in etcd, later designated CVE-2026-33413.
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