Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessReach public contact form (unauthenticated)
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DeliveryInject path traversal in signature field
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ExploitPlugin builds attachment path into wp-content
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ExecutionSensitive file attached to copy email
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ImpactAttacker receives file at submitter address
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling Path canonicalization, traversal prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Discovery, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the specific deployment condition that a Contact Form 7 form using the Signature Addon is configured to email a copy of the submission to a submitter-controlled recipient address (e.g., a 'send copy to submitter' mail configuration), since the attacker reads the file only via that outbound copy. The attacker must submit a signature field whose value contains path-traversal sequences that the plugin uses to construct the attachment path. Limiting factors: the arbitrary-read is bounded to the wp-content directory (not the full filesystem), and the attack only yields data when the submitter-controlled email-copy configuration is present - on default single-recipient (site-admin-only) forms the attacker does not receive the file, which is why CVSS rates attack complexity High. No authentication and no user interaction are required (PR:N/UI:N). |
| Impact | This is a moderate, conditional file-disclosure issue rather than a top-tier priority, and the signals are internally consistent. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N, base 5.9) correctly reflects a network-reachable, unauthenticated flaw whose real-world exploitability is gated by high attack complexity: the targeted form must be configured to email a copy of the submission to a submitter-controlled address, and the arbitrary-read is bounded to the wp-content directory (not the full filesystem or wp-config.php). No EPSS score, KEV listing, or public exploit was provided in the input, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation - this is consistent with a newly disclosed (2026) WPScan-reported bug. The C:H rating is defensible because wp-content can hold backups, cached credentials, and uploaded sensitive files, but the wp-content boundary and the non-default email-to-submitter requirement meaningfully reduce practical impact. Net: a legitimate information-disclosure vulnerability worth patching on affected sites, but not a drop-everything emergency absent exploitation signals. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker submits a Contact Form 7 form on a site running the Signature Addon (≤4.2.2) where the form is configured to email a copy of the submission to the submitter's own address. The attacker places path-traversal sequences in the signature field value so the plugin builds an attachment path pointing at a sensitive file within wp-content, and the server emails that file back to the attacker-controlled recipient. No public exploit code was identified in the provided data, but exploitation requires no authentication and no victim interaction. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 18, 2026
Path traversal in the Contact Form 7 Signature Addon WordPress plugin (versions through 4.2.2) lets an unauthenticated attacker attach arbitrary files to a form's outgoing email by supplying a crafted signature field value that is used unsanitized to build the attachment path. The read is bounded to the wp-content directory, and disclosure only occurs when the affected form is configured to send a copy of the submission to a submitter-controlled address, so default single-recipient (site-admin-only) forms are not exploitable for exfiltration; this deployment dependency is why CVSS rates attack complexity High (5.9, AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/C:H/I:N/A:N). No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch version is identified in the available data - the advisory set only establishes that 4.2.2 and earlier are affected - so verify the current release on the WPScan advisory (https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/e56dc60b-9232-43f2-8d57-fe9452c85281/) and the VulDB entry (https://vuldb.com/vuln/421563) before upgrading, and treat any version above 4.2.2 as unconfirmed until the vendor states a fix. The single most effective compensating control is to remove submitter-controlled recipients from every Contact Form 7 mail template that includes the signature attachment - delete or disable the 'send copy to submitter' (second mail) configuration and hard-code recipients to site-controlled addresses; the trade-off is loss of the confirmation-copy feature for legitimate users. If the copy feature must stay, remove the signature file from those templates so attachments are not built from user input, or disable the Signature Addon entirely until a patched release exists (side effect: signatures are no longer collected). As defense in depth, deploy WAF/virtual-patch rules that reject form submissions whose signature field contains '../', URL-encoded or double-encoded traversal sequences, or absolute paths, and restrict the web server user's read access to sensitive wp-content subtrees such as other plugins' configuration and backup directories; neither measure removes the underlying flaw, and the WAF rule must be tuned to avoid blocking legitimate signature payloads. Review mail logs for submissions whose attachment paths resolved outside the plugin's upload directory to detect prior attempts.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
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 plugin is a WordPress add-on to Contact Form 7 that captures a drawn/textual signature in a form field and, on submission, attaches signature-related files to the notification email. CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory) arises because the raw signature field value is concatenated into an email attachment path without normalization or rejection of '../' sequences, so traversal segments survive into the file-open call used to attach the file. Because traversal is relative to the plugin's working attachment location under wp-content, an attacker can walk out to other wp-content subtrees (other plugins, themes, uploads) but is not known to reach the wider filesystem - the impact is confidentiality-only, with no write or code-execution primitive. Exfiltration depends on the mail configuration: the attacker must be able to direct a copy of the submission to an address they control (for example a second 'send copy to submitter' mail template). The CVSS vector PR:N/UI:N confirms no authentication and no user interaction are needed for the traversal itself; the high complexity reflects the required non-default mail configuration rather than any technical sophistication.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Network-reachable and unauthenticated (AV:N/PR:N/UI:N), but AC:H because exfiltration depends on a non-default submitter-controlled email-copy configuration; read-only disclosure within wp-content gives C:H, I:N, A:N.
Primary rating from Vendor (wpscan).
CVSS VectorVendor: wpscan
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionCVE.org
The Contact Form 7 Signature Addon WordPress plugin through 4.2.2 does not sanitize a signature field value before building an email attachment path from it, allowing unauthenticated users to attach arbitrary files (bounded to wp-content on current Contact Form 7) to a form's outgoing email via path traversal; when a form is configured to email a copy to a submitter-controlled address, the attacker can read the targeted file.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Path traversal exploits occur when applications use user-controlled input to construct file system paths without proper validation.
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EUVD-2026-103250
GHSA-9vjv-8c2x-cq8c
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB