What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities
CVE-2026-7252: WP-Optimize <= 4.5.2 - Authenticated (Author+) Arbitrary File Deletion via 'original-file' Post Meta
- Severity: high (CVSS 8.1 v3.1)
- Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
- EPSS: 0.9% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- Public exploit or detection template: none known
- Published: 2026-05-07 · updated 2026-06-17
- Weakness: CWE-22
Description
The WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to insufficient file path validation in the unscheduled_original_file_deletion function in all versions up to, and including, 4.5.2 This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with author-level access and above, to delete arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is deleted (such as wp-config.php). This is possible because 'original-file' is a public (non-protected) meta key — it does not begin with an underscore — allowing Authors to freely create or modify it on their own attachment posts via the standard Edit Media form or the REST API.
Affected products
- davidanderson WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance: through 4.5.2
References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/tags/4.5.2/includes/class-updraft-smush-manager.php#L1645
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/tags/4.5.2/includes/class-updraft-smush-manager.php#L1649
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/tags/4.5.2/includes/class-updraft-smush-manager.php#L81
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/trunk/includes/class-updraft-smush-manager.php#L1645
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/trunk/includes/class-updraft-smush-manager.php#L1649
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/trunk/includes/class-updraft-smush-manager.php#L81
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3518513/wp-optimize/trunk/includes/class-updraft-smush-manager.php
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=%2Fwp-optimize/tags/4.5.2&new_path=%2Fwp-optimize/tags/4.5.3
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/cc815ef2-dd02-4faa-b202-dd1552f889db?source=cve
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