Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain Contributor-level WordPress account
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DeliveryInvoke image-generation with traversal path
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ExploitBypass missing folder sanitization
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ExecutionWrite/overwrite image files outside webroot
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ImpactFilesystem integrity impact
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 | Requires an authenticated WordPress user with the Contributor role or higher on a site running the Link Library plugin before version 7.9.6, and the attacker must invoke the plugin's image-generation functionality while supplying an unsanitized destination folder path. Exploitation is LIMITED by: (1) mandatory authentication at Contributor level or above (not unauthenticated despite AV:N); (2) the web server process must have write permission to the targeted path; (3) written files are constrained to numeric names with a fixed image extension, preventing code execution and limiting impact to arbitrary directory creation and image-file write/overwrite outside the document root. |
| Impact | This is a genuinely low-priority issue despite the network attack vector. The provided CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N) scores only 4.1 (Medium), and multiple independent signals confirm the low urgency: EPSS is 0.16% (4th percentile), it is NOT on the CISA KEV list, and there is no evidence of active exploitation. A public exploit reference exists via WPScan, so publicly available exploit code exists - but POC availability is distinct from active exploitation and does not itself raise the priority here. The impact is deliberately limited: the description confirms only numeric filenames with a fixed image extension can be written, so no executable code (webshell) can be planted, keeping confidentiality and availability impact at none and integrity at low. Note a CONFLICT worth verifying: the input CVSS vector uses PR:H, but the description states exploitation requires only the Contributor role, which is a LOW-privilege authenticated WordPress user - this suggests PR:L is more accurate and the vendor/NVD PR:H rating may understate accessibility. The S:C (scope change) is defensible because files can be written outside the site's document root, affecting resources beyond the vulnerable plugin. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An authenticated attacker (or a compromised/malicious account) holding at least the Contributor role uses the plugin's image-generation feature and supplies a crafted destination folder path containing traversal sequences, causing the web server to create directories and write image files outside the intended plugin directory, including outside the document root. A public POC is referenced by WPScan. Because filenames are forced numeric with an image extension, the attacker can overwrite existing image assets or clutter the filesystem but cannot plant executable code. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 25, 2026
Link Library, a WordPress plugin, writes a generated image to a destination folder that is taken directly from user input without sanitization, so an authenticated user with the Contributor role or higher can create arbitrary directories and write or overwrite image files anywhere the web server process has write permission - including paths outside the site's document root (CVE-2026-78394, CWE-22 path traversal, affecting versions before 7.9.6). Because the written filename is always numeric with a fixed image extension, the primitive cannot be used to drop executable PHP, and the assessed impact is limited to low-integrity file write/overwrite (CVSS 4.1, AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N); this is confirmed not to be an actively exploited issue (no CISA KEV entry), publicly available exploit code does exist, and EPSS is negligible at 0.16% (4th percentile). The vendor has released a fix in 7.9.6, which is the straightforward and recommended remedy.
RemediationAI
Update Link Library to version 7.9.6 or later - this is the vendor-released patch and fully resolves the missing sanitization of the destination folder path. Confirm the fix by checking the plugin version in the WordPress admin Plugins list or via WP-CLI (wp plugin list) and, if the site cannot be updated immediately, deactivate the plugin entirely; that is the only complete workaround because the vulnerable code path is the plugin's own image-generation feature. Where deactivation is not possible, reduce exposure rather than trying to patch around it: restrict or temporarily suspend Contributor-and-above accounts on the affected site (note the trade-off that this halts all content workflows for those roles), and harden the filesystem layer by ensuring the web server user has write permission only to the WordPress uploads directory - the traversal still succeeds against any writable path, so open_basedir or containerized/read-only mounts remain necessary to prevent writes outside the document root. Do not rely on filename filtering as a mitigation: the numeric filename plus fixed image extension is a property of the plugin, not a defense, and it only prevents code execution, not directory creation or image overwrite. Automated scanners that key off CPE will not reliably flag this install given the unresolved cpe:2.3:a:unknown:link_library record, so verify versions manually. Advisory: https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/9da07b4f-5332-4ba5-8a34-6f2ed303b62c/.
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 flaw is a classic path traversal (CWE-22) that manifests in a file-write sink rather than a file-read sink. Link Library's image-generation routine accepts a caller-supplied destination folder and passes it to the filesystem without normalizing or constraining it against a permitted base directory, so sequences such as ../ can escape the intended upload/generated-image directory. Unlike most traversal-to-write bugs, the damage envelope is bounded by how the filename is constructed: the plugin always uses a numeric filename with a hardcoded image extension, which means the attacker cannot control the extension and therefore cannot plant a .php or other executable payload for direct web-shell execution. The practical result is an arbitrary-directory-creation and image-file write/overwrite primitive, which can reach any location the PHP/web server user can write to, including outside the WordPress document root or over existing image assets. The plugin is distributed through the WordPress ecosystem and is tracked by WPScan; the CPE record supplied is a placeholder (cpe:2.3:a:unknown:link_library) and the vendor namespace was not resolved in the source data, so version-based identification (below 7.9.6) is the reliable discriminator. ENISA's EUVD entry EUVD-2026-86528 mirrors the same affected range of 0 to before 7.9.6.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Contributor is a low-privilege authenticated role so PR:L (not PR:H); arbitrary out-of-webroot image writes justify S:C and I:L, with no confidentiality or availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (WPScan).
CVSS VectorVendor: WPScan
Lifecycle Timeline
4DescriptionCVE.org
The Link Library WordPress plugin before 7.9.6 does not sanitize a user-supplied destination folder before writing a generated image to disk, allowing users with the Contributor role and above to create directories and write or overwrite image files anywhere the web server can write, including outside the site's document root.
The written file name is always numeric with a fixed image extension, so executable code cannot be planted this way.
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-2026-86528
GHSA-qx4g-fv3v-h498
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB