What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities
CVE-2026-1921: Loco Translate <= 2.8.2 - Authenticated (Translator+) Path Traversal to Limited File Read via 'ref' Parameter
- Severity: medium (CVSS 4.9 v3.1)
- Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
- EPSS: 0.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- Public exploit or detection template: none known
- Published: 2026-05-05 · updated 2026-06-17
- Weakness: CWE-22
Description
The Loco Translate plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Path Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.2 via the `fsReference` AJAX route. This is due to the `findSourceFile()` method normalizing user-supplied `ref` paths containing `../` directory traversal sequences without validating that the resolved path remains within the intended bundle or content directory. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Translator-level access and above (custom `loco_admin` capability required, granted to the `translator` role and administrators by default), to read arbitrary `.php`, `.js`, `.json`, and `.twig` files from the server filesystem outside the intended translation directory. Files named wp-config.php are excluded.
Affected products
- timwhitlock Loco Translate: through 2.8.2
References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/loco-translate/tags/2.8.1/src/ajax/FsReferenceController.php#L12
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/loco-translate/tags/2.8.1/src/ajax/FsReferenceController.php#L92
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/loco-translate/trunk/src/ajax/FsReferenceController.php#L12
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/loco-translate/trunk/src/ajax/FsReferenceController.php#L92
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3482475/loco-translate/trunk/tpl/admin/config/version.php
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=%2Floco-translate/tags/2.8.2&new_path=%2Floco-translate/tags/2.8.3
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f9ff3058-a08c-40ed-b756-81e703b2277a?source=cve
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