ionCube Tester Plus <= 1.3 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Download
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.4
- Affected Plugin
- ionCube Tester Plus
- Affected Version
<= 1.3- CVSS
- 9.1Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
- CVE
CVE-2025-69411
At a glance
CVE-2025-69411 is a critical-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the ionCube Tester Plus WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.3. It carries a CVSS score of 9.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2026, reported by Jarno Vos (jarnovos).
Vulnerability Overview
The ionCube Tester Plus plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Path Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 1.3. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to read the contents of arbitrary files on the server, which can contain sensitive information.
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 integrity, availability.
CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Reaching this weakness in ionCube Tester Plus <= 1.3 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 ionCube Tester Plus the fix is 1.4: builds <= 1.3 are affected, anything from 1.4 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.4, 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: ionCube Tester Plus 1.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C