Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2024-9939 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Iptanus Wordpress File Upload. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 39% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2024-9939 is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) affecting the WordPress File Upload plugin for WordPress in all versions up to and including 4.24.13. The issue resides in the wfu_file_downloader.php component, which allows attackers to access files outside the originally intended directory. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N), indicating high confidentiality impact with no integrity or availability disruption.
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation enables reading arbitrary files on the server, potentially exposing sensitive configuration files, credentials, or other data stored outside the plugin's designated directories.
Wordfence published a threat intelligence advisory detailing the vulnerability at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/5e51f301-026d-4ed7-82f8-96c1623bf95c?source=cve. A patch addressing the issue is available in the WordPress plugin trac changeset 3188857 at https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3188857/wp-file-upload. Additional technical analysis appears in a blog post at https://abrahack.com/posts/wp-file-upload-rce-part1/. Security practitioners should update to a patched version beyond 4.24.13 and review access logs for suspicious file download requests.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-50351
Vulnerability Data
The WordPress File Upload plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Path Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 4.24.13 via wfu_file_downloader.php. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to read files outside of the originally intended directory.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.
Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.
Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.