CVE-2026-3835
Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files <= 2.8.8.8 - Unauthenticated Protected File Access
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 5.3 Medium
- Published
- Aug 13, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 13, 2026
- Reserved
- Mar 9, 2026
Description
The Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of protected files due to insufficient token validation in the `get_advance_file_by_url()` method in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.8.8 The method uses a SQL `LIKE` operator for token lookup without escaping wildcard characters via `$wpdb->esc_like()`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass the private token requirement by supplying SQL wildcard characters (such as `%`) as the token value, matching any record in the plugin's file table and downloading any protected file.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 5.3 Medium | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N | Wordfence |
Weaknesses
- CWE-285 Improper Authorization
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Filesbuildwps |
|
References
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/c39d16f1-ce80-402c-8a36-f9070dc5f9c9?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/trunk/includes/repository.php#L221
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.4/includes/repository.php#L221
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/trunk/download.php#L377
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/prevent-direct-access/
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&new=3637502%40prevent-direct-access%2Ftags%2F2.8.8.9&old=3524320%40prevent-direct-access%2Ftags%2F2.8.8.8
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3637499/prevent-direct-access/trunk/includes/repository.php
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=%2Fprevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.8&new_path=%2Fprevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.9
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