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WP Directory Kit CVE-2026-16588

| EUVDEUVD-2026-80095 MEDIUM
SQL Injection (CWE-89)
2026-09-16 Wordfence GHSA-xm4c-4mmm-pm6q
6.5
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Wordfence
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain custom-level WordPress account
  2. Delivery
    Craft malicious order_by parameter
  3. Exploit
    Inject blind SQL into existing query
  4. Execution
    Infer database contents via responses
  5. Impact
    Exfiltrate sensitive data

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Parameterized queries, prepared statements
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Initial Access, Persistence

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Requires an authenticated WordPress account with 'custom-level access and above' on a site running the WP Directory Kit plugin version ≤1.5.4; the attacker exploits the 'order_by' parameter, which is insufficiently escaped and not parameterized. Limiting factors: exploitation is gated on holding a valid low-privilege account (PR:L), so it cannot be performed by fully anonymous attackers, and only sites that have installed this specific plugin are affected; being blind SQLi, data extraction is inferential (boolean/time-based) rather than direct.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N, base 6.5) describes a network-reachable, low-complexity, blind SQL injection whose primary constraint is the PR:L requirement - the attacker must already hold a 'custom-level access and above' account on the target WordPress site. Impact is confidentiality-only (C:H, I:N, A:N), consistent with a blind SQLi used to read sensitive database contents (credentials, user data, secret keys) rather than to modify or destroy data. No EPSS score, KEV listing, or POC is present in the supplied intelligence, so this is not currently confirmed as exploited or weaponized; it should be treated as a genuine but authentication-gated data-disclosure risk rather than a mass-exploitation emergency. The main risk driver is that WordPress sites frequently grant low/custom roles to many users, and a patched changeset already exists (trac 3626960), making n-day exploitation of unpatched sites plausible once the diff is public. No conflicting signals were found - the description, CWE-89, and CVSS vector are mutually consistent.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who already holds a low-privilege 'custom-level' or higher account on a WordPress site running WP Directory Kit ≤1.5.4 submits a request manipulating the 'order_by' parameter, appending SQL that is executed against the site database. Because it is a blind SQLi, the attacker infers data (such as password hashes, user records, or wp_options secrets) via boolean/time-based responses. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, but the vendor patch changeset is available and could be reverse-engineered.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv2 – Sep 16, 2026

Blind SQL injection in the WP Directory Kit WordPress plugin, affecting all versions up to and including 1.5.4, lets an authenticated attacker with 'custom-level access and above' append arbitrary SQL to an existing query through the unescaped 'order_by' parameter and extract sensitive data from the site's database. The flaw carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) because exploitation is network-reachable and low-complexity but gated behind a valid low-privilege account; confidentiality is the only impacted pillar, as the injection is blind and does not permit direct read-out or data modification. No public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation was identified at time of analysis, so the practical risk is concentrated on sites that expose low-privilege accounts and run a vulnerable plugin version.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Sep 16, 2026 - 10:51 CVSS 6.5

Blind SQL injection in the WP Directory Kit plugin for WordPress (all versions up to and including 1.5.4) lets an authenticated user holding 'custom-level' capability or above append arbitrary SQL clauses through the plugin's 'order_by' sort parameter, allowing extraction of sensitive data from the site's database. The injection requires a valid WordPress account of sufficient privilege, is reachable over the network without user interaction, and yields a confidentiality-only impact scored at CVSS 6.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N). No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and the flaw is not listed as actively exploited; an upstream changeset addressing the parameter handling is referenced in the plugin's Trac repository.

RemediationAI

Update WP Directory Kit to the first release newer than 1.5.4 - the vendor changeset at https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3626960 records the corrective code, though the exact patched version number is not independently confirmed from the available data (Patch available per vendor advisory). Sites managed through WordPress should apply the plugin update from the official repository or vendor channel and verify the installed version afterwards. Where immediate upgrading is not possible, delete or deactivate the plugin if directory functionality is not in use, which removes the vulnerable code path entirely but also removes the feature. Because exploitation requires an account at 'custom-level access and above', review and prune user roles and remove any accounts that do not genuinely need that capability; note this is a compensating control only, since a legitimate lower-privileged user could still abuse the parameter. A web application firewall rule that rejects or sanitizes requests containing SQL metacharacters in the 'order_by' parameter can block known injection patterns, with the acknowledged trade-off of potential false positives and trivial bypass by encoding, so it should be treated as defense in depth rather than a fix. Monitoring database and web logs for anomalous or time-delayed requests to plugin endpoints can help detect exploitation attempts given the blind nature of the injection.

Affected VersionsENISA

WP Directory Kit 0 ≤1.5.4

Affected Packages

euvd wp_directory_kit no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The issue is a classic CWE-89 SQL injection in a WordPress plugin. WP Directory Kit builds database queries - including sorting logic driven by the 'order_by' request parameter - and passes user-supplied input into the SQL string without adequate escaping and without using prepared statements (parameterized placeholders) through the WordPress $wpdb abstraction. Because the parameter is concatenated into an already-constructed query, an attacker holding a 'custom-level' role or higher can inject additional SQL clauses or subqueries. The injection is blind: results are not reflected back to the attacker, so extraction relies on boolean- or time-based inference against the backend database, making it slower and noisier than a UNION-based injection but still capable of extracting sensitive records such as user data and plugin-stored content. The affected component is the WordPress plugin identified by the CPE cpe:2.3:a:wpdirectorykit:wp_directory_kit:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, i.e. the plugin's entire version lineage up to the fixed release.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (Wordfence) PRIMARY 6.5 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
vuln.today AI 6.5 MEDIUM

Network-reachable and low-complexity, but requires a custom-level (low-privilege) authenticated account (PR:L); blind SQLi yields data disclosure only, so C:H with I:N/A:N.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (Wordfence).

CVSS VectorVendor: Wordfence

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

The WP Directory Kit plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to blind SQL Injection via the 'order_by' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 1.5.4 due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with custom-level access and above, to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 78% exploitable
Prevalence
Low
niche WordPress directory-listing plugin, limited install base
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

32
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +32
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

SQL injection exploits the way applications construct database queries by mixing user input directly into SQL statements.

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