Bit File Manager – 100% free file manager for WordPress <= 5.2.2 - Subscriber+ Arbitrary File Creation/Upload/Deletion
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 5.2.3
- Affected Plugin
- File Manager
- Affected Version
<= 5.2.2- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
- CVE
CVE-2022-0403
At a glance
CVE-2022-0403 is a high-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the File Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 5.2.2. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The issue is fixed in version 5.2.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2022, reported by Luan Pedersini.
Vulnerability Overview
The Library File Manager WordPress plugin before 5.2.3 is using an outdated version of the elFinder library, which is known to be affected by security issues (CVE-2021-32682), and does not have any authorisation as well as CSRF checks in its connector AJAX action, allowing any authenticated users, such as subscriber to call it. Furthermore, as the options passed to the elFinder library does not restrict any file type, users with a role as low as subscriber can Create/Upload/Delete Arbitrary files and folders.
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, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
Reaching this weakness in File Manager <= 5.2.2 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 File Manager the fix is 5.2.3: builds <= 5.2.2 are affected, anything from 5.2.3 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 5.2.3, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to File Manager: 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: File Manager 5.2.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in File Manager
- 8.8CVE-2026-15991: File Manager 6.0 - 6.9 Authenticated (Subscriber+)
CVE-2026-15991 - 8.8Bit File Manager <= 4.1.4 CSRF to Arbitrary File Upload
- 8.1CVE-2024-7627: Bit File Manager 6.0 - 6.5.5 Remote Code Execution
CVE-2024-7627 - 7.5CVE-2018-7204: Bit File Manager <= 5.0.0 Information Disclosure
CVE-2018-7204 - 7.2CVE-2022-47599: Bit File Manager <= 5.2.7 PHP Object Injection
CVE-2022-47599 - 6.5CVE-2026-17540: Bit File Manager <= 6.9.0 Arbitrary File Read
CVE-2026-17540 - 5.3CVE-2026-17541: Bit File Manager <= 6.9.0 File Activity Log Disclosure
CVE-2026-17541 - 4.3CVE-2026-17542: Bit File Manager <= 6.9.0 Information Exposure
CVE-2026-17542
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