Description

The giftware WordPress plugin before 4.2.10 does not validate the type of uploaded files in one of its upload paths, allowing unauthenticated users to upload arbitrary files, including PHP code, which can lead to remote code execution.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "9.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-12T06:17:54.470Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-12T06:17:54.470Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An arbitrary file upload vulnerability exists in the giftware WordPress plugin prior to version 4.2.10, stemming from a failure to adequately validate the MIME type and extension of uploaded files within an exposed upload vector. This security flaw enables unauthenticated remote threat actors to bypass security controls and upload arbitrary files, including malicious PHP execution scripts, directly to the underlying web server. The primary business and technical impact of this vulnerability is complete system compromise via Remote Code Execution (RCE). Because the attack vector requires no prior authentication or administrative privileges, it presents a critical risk to confidentiality, integrity, and availability for all WordPress installations utilizing affected versions of the giftware plugin. Successful exploitation allows an adversary to execute arbitrary system commands within the context of the web server user, potentially leading to full site takeover, database exfiltration, and lateral movement within the hosting environment. Remediation requires updating the giftware plugin to version 4.2.10 or later immediately.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within an insecure file upload mechanism implemented by the giftware WordPress plugin in versions prior to 4.2.10. The root cause of the security defect is the complete absence of rigorous server-side validation regarding the type, extension, and content of user-supplied file uploads within a specific handler path. Rather than implementing strict whitelisting of permitted file extensions (e.g., restricting uploads exclusively to safe media types like image/jpeg or image/png) and validating file headers against expected magic bytes, the vulnerable component blindly accepts incoming file streams.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: an unauthenticated remote attacker identifies the publicly accessible upload endpoint provided by the giftware plugin. Crafting a multipart HTTP POST request, the attacker includes a malicious payload—typically a web shell written in PHP code disguised with a double extension or directly as a .php file. Due to the lack of input sanitization and type enforcement in the vulnerable upload path, the web application stores the raw payload directly within a publicly accessible directory on the web server.\nFollowing successful file persistence, the attacker initiates the post-exploitation phase by sending a direct HTTP request to the newly uploaded PHP script via the web server's URL routing. Because the web server processes files ending in .php through the PHP interpreter, the embedded malicious code executes immediately with the permissions of the web server process (e.g., www-data). This grants the attacker capabilities to read sensitive configuration files, manipulate database contents, inject persistent backdoors, or execute arbitrary operating system commands."
}