{"id":"CVE-2020-25213","published":"2020-09-09T16:15:12Z","modified":"2026-06-17T03:06:35Z","title":"WordPress File Manager Plugin Remote Code Execution Vulnerability","vendor":"WordPress","product":"File Manager Plugin","tier":"core","eol":null,"description":{"text":"The File Manager (wp-file-manager) plugin before 6.9 for WordPress allows remote attackers to upload and execute arbitrary PHP code because it renames an unsafe example elFinder connector file to have the .php extension. This, for example, allows attackers to run the elFinder upload (or mkfile and put) command to write PHP code into the wp-content/plugins/wp-file-manager/lib/files/ directory. This was exploited in the wild in August and September 2020.","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"summary":{"text":"The File Manager (wp-file-manager) plugin for WordPress, prior to version 6.9, contains an unrestricted file upload flaw because an unsafe example elFinder connector file is renamed with a .php extension, leaving it in place in the plugin's lib/files/ directory. A remote attacker with no authentication and no user interaction can use the elFinder upload, mkfile, or put commands to write and execute arbitrary PHP code on the server.","provenance":"ai","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","generatedAt":"2026-10-23T07:09:35Z"},"cvss":{"score":9.8,"severity":"CRITICAL","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"epss":{"score":0.97328,"percentile":0.99897,"date":"2026-10-31","provenance":"source"},"kev":{"dateAdded":"2021-11-03","dueDate":"2022-05-03","ransomware":false,"requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","notes":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-25213","provenance":"source"},"vulncheckKev":{"dateAdded":"2020-09-09","exploitedFirstSeen":"2020-09-09","ransomware":false,"evidence":[{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-25213","date":"2020-09-09"},{"url":"https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/cve-2020-25213/","date":"2021-02-05"},{"url":"https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-attack-trends-winter-2020/","date":"2021-04-12"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json","date":"2021-11-03"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-14&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-25213","date":"2023-11-14"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-28&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-25213","date":"2023-11-28"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-11-29&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-25213","date":"2023-11-29"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-12-08&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-25213","date":"2023-12-08"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2023-12-09&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-25213","date":"2023-12-09"},{"url":"https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/honeypot/vulnerability/map/?day=2024-01-22&host_type=src&vulnerability=cve-2020-25213","date":"2024-01-22"}],"evidenceTotal":189,"provenance":"source"},"exploited":true,"otx":null,"cwes":[{"id":"CWE-434","name":"Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type"}],"references":[{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160003/WordPress-File-Manager-6.8-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/171650/WordPress-File-Manager-6.9-Shell-Upload.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://github.com/w4fz5uck5/wp-file-manager-0day","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com/blog/wordpress-websites-attacked-via-file-manager-plugin-vulnerability-24048.html","tags":["Broken Link","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/2373068","tags":["Patch"]},{"url":"https://seravo.com/blog/0-day-vulnerability-in-wp-file-manager/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://wordfence.com/blog/2020/09/700000-wordpress-users-affected-by-zero-day-vulnerability-in-file-manager-plugin/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-file-manager/#developers","tags":["Product","Release Notes"]},{"url":"https://zdnet.com/article/millions-of-wordpress-sites-are-being-probed-attacked-with-recent-plugin-bug/","tags":["Press/Media Coverage"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160003/WordPress-File-Manager-6.8-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/171650/WordPress-File-Manager-6.9-Shell-Upload.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://github.com/w4fz5uck5/wp-file-manager-0day","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com/blog/wordpress-websites-attacked-via-file-manager-plugin-vulnerability-24048.html","tags":["Broken Link","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/2373068","tags":["Patch"]},{"url":"https://seravo.com/blog/0-day-vulnerability-in-wp-file-manager/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://wordfence.com/blog/2020/09/700000-wordpress-users-affected-by-zero-day-vulnerability-in-file-manager-plugin/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-file-manager/#developers","tags":["Product","Release Notes"]},{"url":"https://zdnet.com/article/millions-of-wordpress-sites-are-being-probed-attacked-with-recent-plugin-bug/","tags":["Press/Media Coverage"]},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-25213","tags":["US Government Resource"]}],"techniques":[{"id":"T1190","name":"Exploit Public-Facing Application","tactics":["initial-access"],"provenance":"ai","basis":"ai-mapping","bases":["ai-mapping"],"basisDetail":"claude-haiku-5-5: Remote unauthenticated upload exploits public-facing web application","mappingType":"exploitation_technique","evidence":[{"from":"description","quote":"allows remote attackers to upload and execute arbitrary PHP code","start":67,"end":131}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"AI-mapped from the description (quote-validated, not expert-reviewed)"},{"id":"T1059","name":"Command and Scripting Interpreter","tactics":["execution"],"provenance":"ai","basis":"ai-mapping","bases":["ai-mapping"],"basisDetail":"claude-haiku-5-5: Uploaded PHP code executes on the server","mappingType":"primary_impact","evidence":[{"from":"description","quote":"write PHP code into the wp-content/plugins/wp-file-manager/lib/files/ directory","start":315,"end":394}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"AI-mapped from the description (quote-validated, not expert-reviewed)"}],"reports":[],"affected":[],"advisories":[],"euvd":{"id":"EUVD-2020-17903","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2020-17903","exploited":true,"exploitedSince":"2021-11-03","provenance":"source"},"exploits":[{"id":49178,"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/49178","title":"WordPress Plugin Wp-FileManager 6.8 - RCE","type":"webapps","platform":"php","date":"2020-12-02","verified":false,"provenance":"source"},{"id":51224,"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/51224","title":"WP-file-manager v6.9 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload leading to RCE","type":"webapps","platform":"php","date":"2023-04-03","verified":true,"provenance":"source"}],"exploitSources":{"exploitdb":{"count":2,"earliest":"2020-12-02"},"pocGithub":{"count":9,"skipped":3,"earliest":"2020-10-10","earliestUrl":"https://github.com/mansoorr123/wp-file-manager-CVE-2020-25213","repos":[{"name":"mansoorr123/wp-file-manager-CVE-2020-25213","url":"https://github.com/mansoorr123/wp-file-manager-CVE-2020-25213","stars":58,"created":"2020-10-10"},{"name":"BLY-Coder/Python-exploit-CVE-2020-25213","url":"https://github.com/BLY-Coder/Python-exploit-CVE-2020-25213","stars":6,"created":"2023-01-22"},{"name":"E1tex/Python-CVE-2020-25213","url":"https://github.com/E1tex/Python-CVE-2020-25213","stars":3,"created":"2023-08-02"},{"name":"Maalfer/CVE-2020-25213-exploit","url":"https://github.com/Maalfer/CVE-2020-25213-exploit","stars":2,"created":"2026-10-14"},{"name":"kakamband/WPKiller","url":"https://github.com/kakamband/WPKiller","stars":1,"created":"2020-11-13"}]},"metasploit":[{"name":"WordPress File Manager Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution","module":"exploit/multi/http/wp_file_manager_rce","type":"exploit","disclosureDate":"2020-09-09","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/wp_file_manager_rce.rb"}],"nuclei":[{"id":"CVE-2020-25213","name":"WordPress File Manager Plugin - Remote Code Execution","severity":"critical","path":"http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-25213.yaml","url":"https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-25213.yaml"}],"first":{"date":"2020-09-09","source":"Metasploit","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/wp_file_manager_rce.rb"},"provenance":"source"},"exploitRefs":["http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160003/WordPress-File-Manager-6.8-Remote-Code-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/171650/WordPress-File-Manager-6.9-Shell-Upload.html","https://github.com/w4fz5uck5/wp-file-manager-0day","https://seravo.com/blog/0-day-vulnerability-in-wp-file-manager/","https://wordfence.com/blog/2020/09/700000-wordpress-users-affected-by-zero-day-vulnerability-in-file-manager-plugin/"],"flow":[{"stage":"exploitation","techniques":["T1190"],"provenance":"ai"},{"stage":"primary","techniques":["T1059"],"provenance":"ai"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2020-09-09","kind":"published","label":"Published (NVD)","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-25213","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2020-09-09","kind":"exploit-public","label":"First public exploit: Metasploit; later: PoC-in-GitHub 2020-10-10, Exploit-DB 2020-12-02","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/wp_file_manager_rce.rb","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2020-09-09","kind":"exploited-reported","label":"Exploitation first reported (VulnCheck KEV evidence)","url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-25213","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2021-11-03","kind":"kev","label":"Added to CISA KEV","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2021-11-03","kind":"euvd-exploited","label":"ENISA EUVD: exploited","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2020-17903","provenance":"source"}],"speed":{"daysToPublicExploit":0,"firstExploitFrom":"Metasploit","daysToKev":420},"priority":{"score":66.8,"factors":[{"name":"In a KEV catalog","points":35.0,"detail":"listed in CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV"},{"name":"Recent KEV listing","points":0.0,"detail":"added 2244 days ago"},{"name":"Known ransomware use","points":0.0,"detail":"not known"},{"name":"EPSS percentile","points":19.98,"detail":"percentile 0.9990"},{"name":"Named in threat reports","points":0.0,"detail":"0 reports"},{"name":"Public exploit code","points":5.0,"detail":"5 NVD references tagged Exploit; 2 Exploit-DB entries; 9 PoC-in-GitHub repos; 1 Metasploit module; 1 nuclei template"},{"name":"Mentioned in OTX pulses","points":0.0,"detail":"0 pulses"},{"name":"CVSS severity","points":6.86,"detail":"base score 9.8"},{"name":"End-of-life product","points":0.0,"detail":"supported or unknown"}]}}