CVE-2007-0541

WordPress Core < 2.1 - Directory Traversal

2007-01-24 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.1
Affected Core: WordPress 2.1
Affected Version: < 2.1
CVSS: 6.5Medium
Weakness type: CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE: CVE-2007-0541

At a glance

CVE-2007-0541 is a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the WordPress 2.1 WordPress release line, affecting < 2.1. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). The issue is fixed in version 2.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2007, reported by Blake Matheny.

Vulnerability Overview

WordPress allows remote attackers to determine the existence of arbitrary files, and possibly read portions of certain files, via pingback service calls with a source URI that corresponds to a local pathname, which triggers different fault codes for existing and non-existing files, and in certain configurations causes a brief file excerpt to be published as a blog comment.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality.

CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 2.1 < 2.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For WordPress 2.1 the fix is 2.1: builds < 2.1 are affected, anything from 2.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WordPress 2.1: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: updating to 2.1 is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2007-0541 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/c84e274e-292f-4d0f-b847-4a786b4cb15a https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2007-0541

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 2.1

CVSS Vector

6.5

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityNone

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