CVE-2026-5524

Divi Form Builder <= 5.1.8 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload Leading to Remote Code Execution via 'acceptFileTypes' Parameter

2026-07-01 00:00
0xd4rk5id3

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 5.1.9
Affected Plugin
Divi Form Builder
Affected Version
<= 5.1.8
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
CVE
CVE-2026-5524
View all Divi Form Builder vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-5524 is a critical-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the Divi Form Builder WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 5.1.8. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 5.1.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2026, reported by 0xd4rk5id3.

Vulnerability Overview

The Divi Form Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Upload leading to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to and including 5.1.8. This is due to insufficient file extension validation in the do_image_upload() function where user-supplied input from the acceptFileTypes POST parameter is directly interpolated into a regular expression used to validate uploaded files. Attackers can specify PHP-executable extensions such as .phtml, .phar, .php5, or .php7 to bypass the plugin's .htaccess protection which only blocks .php files specifically. Additionally, on Nginx-based servers, the .htaccess protection is completely ineffective as Nginx does not process .htaccess files. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers (who can obtain a nonce from any public page containing a form) to upload executable PHP files to the publicly accessible /wp-content/uploads/de_fb_uploads/ directory and achieve Remote Code Execution by accessing the uploaded file via HTTP. The vulnerability was partially patched in version 5.1.3.

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, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

Divi Form Builder <= 5.1.8 carries this weakness at do_image_upload(), and reaching it takes no account at all. An unrestricted file upload lets a caller store a file whose type or destination the application does not properly constrain.

If an uploaded file lands anywhere the server will execute, the flaw becomes remote code execution and the site should be treated as fully compromised. For Divi Form Builder the fix is 5.1.9: builds <= 5.1.8 are affected, anything from 5.1.9 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 5.1.9, 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. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Divi Form Builder 5.1.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Login Security

External References

Related records

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