CVE-2026-4132
What it is
The HTTP Headers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to External Control of File Name or Path leading to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to and including 1.19.2. This is due to insufficient validation of the file path stored in the 'hh_htpasswd_path' option and lack of sanitization on the 'hh_www_authenticate_user' option value. The plugin allows administrators to set an arbitrary file path for the htpasswd file location and does not validate that the path has a safe file extension (e.g., restricting to .htpasswd). Additionally, the username field used for HTTP Basic Authentication is written directly into the file without sanitization. The apache_auth_credentials() function constructs the file content using the unsanitized username via sprintf('%s:{SHA}%s', $user, ...), and update_auth_credentials() writes this content to the attacker-controlled path via file_put_contents(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Administrator-level access and above, to write arbitrary content (including PHP code) to arbitrary file paths on the server, effectively achieving Remote Code Execution.
At a glance
- Exploitability
- Can be exploited over the network with an admin-level account. High risk of data exposure, data tampering, service disruption.
- Exploit odds
- 1.0% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Fix
- No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.
Timeline
- PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
- Last updatedMost recent change to the record
Why it ranks here
- Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
- Exploit odds: 1.0% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Severity: 7.2 HIGH (CVSS).
- Fix: none linked yet, which raises it.
Details
- Published
- Last modified
- Exploit probability
- 1.0% · EPSS, next 30 days
- Weakness
- CWE-73
- Record status
- Deferred
Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 7.2
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Is it in your code?
Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.
Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-4132.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-4132. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.
References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/tags/1.19.2/http-headers.php#L1296
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/tags/1.19.2/http-headers.php#L1298
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/tags/1.19.2/http-headers.php#L1403
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/tags/1.19.2/http-headers.php#L671
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/tags/1.19.2/http-headers.php#L722
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/tags/1.19.2/http-headers.php#L97
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/trunk/http-headers.php#L1296
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/trunk/http-headers.php#L1298
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/trunk/http-headers.php#L1403
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/trunk/http-headers.php#L671
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/trunk/http-headers.php#L722
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/http-headers/trunk/http-headers.php#L97
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ce010c6f-16bd-4178-a621-31ba6378946a?source=cve