Autoptimize <= 2.7.7 — Race Condition leading to Remote Code Execution
CVE-2021-24377Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: <2.7.8Update to 2.7.8 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- High8.1
- CVSS
- 8.1CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:HAttack complexity- High
PR:NPrivileges required- None
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:HConfidentiality- High
I:HIntegrity- High
A:HAvailability- High
- Required access
- No account needed
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
Autoptimize autoptimize
- Affected< 2.7.8
- Patched in2.7.8
Update to 2.7.8 or newer.
You are affected if you run < 2.7.8. Version 2.7.8 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Autoptimize.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
- No account is needed to exploit this. Treat any exposed site on an affected version as at risk.
What to do
- Update to version 2.7.8, or a newer patched version
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch Autoptimize to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Marcin Węgłowski.
The Autoptimize WordPress plugin before 2.7.8 attempts to remove potential malicious files from the extracted archive uploaded via the 'Import Settings' feature, however this is not sufficient to protect against RCE as a race condition can be achieved in between the moment the file is extracted on the disk but not yet removed. It is a bypass of CVE-2020-24948.
Exploits & references
Proof-of-concept & detection
No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.
Advisories & patches
- Advisorywordfence.com
Related CVEs
More in Autoptimize
All 15| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium5.4 | Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Author Name ≤3.1.15.1Update to 3.1.16 | CVE-2026-78471 | |
| High7.2 | Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via REQUEST_URI Path ≤3.1.15.1Update to 3.1.16 | CVE-2026-14995 | |
| High7.2 | Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting <2.4.2Update to 2.4.2 | CVE-2026-3220 | |
| Medium6.4 | Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'ao_post_preload' Meta Value ≤3.1.14Update to 3.1.15 | CVE-2026-2352 | |
| Medium6.4 | Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Lazy-loaded Image Attributes ≤3.1.14Update to 3.1.15 | CVE-2026-2430 |
- Medium5.4Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Author Name
≤3.1.15.1Update to 3.1.16
- High7.2Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via REQUEST_URI Path
≤3.1.15.1Update to 3.1.16
- High7.2Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting
<2.4.2Update to 2.4.2
- Medium6.4Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'ao_post_preload' Meta Value
≤3.1.14Update to 3.1.15
- Medium6.4Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Lazy-loaded Image Attributes
≤3.1.14Update to 3.1.15
Timeline
CVE published
Severity high, CVSS 8.1
Record last updated
Sources & licenses
Wordfence record- Vulnerability data
- Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0.
- CVE® identifiers
- Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. Used under the CVE Program. CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
- CVSS / CWE
- National Vulnerability Database (NVD), shown unmodified. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- VulnCrest content
- Summary, remediation guidance and page layout © VulnCrest. Not sourced from NVD.