CVE-2026-9843

Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms <= 1.5.1 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Deletion via CF7 File Field POST Value

2026-06-19 11:55
daroo

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.5.2
Affected Plugin
Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms
Affected Version
<= 1.5.1
CVSS
8.1High
Weakness type
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE
CVE-2026-9843
View all Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-9843 is a high-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.5.1. It carries a CVSS score of 8.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.5.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2026, reported by daroo.

Vulnerability Overview

The Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to insufficient file path validation in the view_page function in all versions up to, and including, 1.5.1. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to delete arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is deleted (such as wp-config.php). Successful exploitation requires an administrator to view or edit the poisoned form entry, at which point PHP's bracket parser reshapes the attacker-crafted JSON key to bypass the stored-path isset check and trigger deletion of the traversal-specified file.

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 privileges on the target site. A successful exploit has high impact on integrity, availability.

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

Reaching this weakness in Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms <= 1.5.1 takes no account at all. 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 Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms the fix is 1.5.2: builds <= 1.5.1 are affected, anything from 1.5.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.5.2, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 1.5.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-9843https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/4169b390-0972-4aa9-ae04-f5f67afe15efhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-9843

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C