What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2021-42362: WordPress Popular Posts <= 5.3.2 Authenticated Arbitrary File Upload

• Severity: medium (CVSS 6.5 v2.0)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 79.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: yes
• Published: 2021-11-17 · updated 2026-06-17
• Weakness: CWE-434

Description

The WordPress Popular Posts WordPress plugin is vulnerable to arbitrary file uploads due to insufficient input file type validation found in the ~/src/Image.php file which makes it possible for attackers with contributor level access and above to upload malicious files that can be used to obtain remote code execution, in versions up to and including 5.3.2.

Affected products

• Hector Cabrera WordPress Popular Posts: through 5.3.2

References

• http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165376/WordPress-Popular-Posts-5.3.2-Remote-Code-Execution.html
• https://blog.nintechnet.com/improper-input-validation-fixed-in-wordpress-popular-posts-plugin/
• https://github.com/cabrerahector/wordpress-popular-posts/commit/d9b274cf6812eb446e4103cb18f69897ec6fe601
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/2542638/wordpress-popular-posts/trunk/src/Image.php
• https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/bd4f157c-a3d7-4535-a587-0102ba4e3009
• https://www.wordfence.com/vulnerability-advisories/#CVE-2021-42362
• http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165376/WordPress-Popular-Posts-5.3.2-Remote-Code-Execution.html
• https://blog.nintechnet.com/improper-input-validation-fixed-in-wordpress-popular-posts-plugin/
• https://github.com/cabrerahector/wordpress-popular-posts/commit/d9b274cf6812eb446e4103cb18f69897ec6fe601
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/2542638/wordpress-popular-posts/trunk/src/Image.php
• https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/bd4f157c-a3d7-4535-a587-0102ba4e3009
• https://www.wordfence.com/vulnerability-advisories/#CVE-2021-42362

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