All-In-One Security (AIOS) <= 5.1.4 - Authenticated(Admin+) Directory Traversal
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 5.1.5
- Affected Plugin
- All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall
- Affected Version
<= 5.1.4- CVSS
- 4.9Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
- CVE
CVE-2023-0156
At a glance
CVE-2023-0156 is a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the All-In-One Security (AIOS) WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 5.1.4. It carries a CVSS score of 4.9 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Admin level or above. The issue is fixed in version 5.1.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2023, reported by Bartłomiej Marek.
Vulnerability Overview
The All-In-One Security (AIOS) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to directory traversal in versions up to, and including, 5.1.4. This allows authenticated attackers with administrator-level permissions to read the contents of arbitrary files on the server.
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 All-In-One Security (AIOS) <= 5.1.4 takes an account at Admin level or above. 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 All-In-One Security (AIOS) the fix is 5.1.5: builds <= 5.1.4 are affected, anything from 5.1.5 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 5.1.5, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Admin access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: All-In-One Security (AIOS) 5.1.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall
- 9.8CVE-2016-10887: All In One WP Security & Firewall SQL Injection
CVE-2016-10887 - 9.8CVE-2016-10888: All In One WP Security & Firewall SQL Injection
CVE-2016-10888 - 9.8CVE-2015-9310: All In One WP Security & Firewall SQL Injection
CVE-2015-9310 - 9.0CVE-2015-0894: All In One WP Security & Firewall SQL Injection
CVE-2015-0894 - 8.8CVE-2022-44737: All In One WP Security & Firewall <= 5.1.0 CSRF
CVE-2022-44737 - 8.8All In One WP Security & Firewall <= 5.1.0 Cross-Site Request Forgery
- 7.4CVE-2014-6242: All In One WP Security & Firewall Access or CSRF
CVE-2014-6242 - 7.2CVE-2026-8438: All-In-One Security (AIOS) <= 5.4.7 Stored XSS
CVE-2026-8438
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