Prevent Direct Access 2.8.6 — 2.8.8.2 - Incorrect Authorization to Authenticated (Contributor+) Multiple Media Actions
CVE-2025-3861Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: 2.8.6 – 2.8.8.2Update to 2.8.8.3 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- Medium5.4
- CVSS
- 5.4CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:NWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:LPrivileges required- Low
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:LConfidentiality- Low
I:LIntegrity- Low
A:NAvailability- None
- Weakness
- CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization
- Required access
- Unknown
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files prevent-direct-access
- Affected2.8.6 – 2.8.8.2
- Patched in2.8.8.3
Update to 2.8.8.3 or newer.
You are affected if you run 2.8.6 – 2.8.8.2. Version 2.8.8.3 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
What to do
- Update to version 2.8.8.3, or a newer patched version
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to 0xbro.
The Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access and modification of data| due to a misconfigured capability check on the 'pda_lite_custom_permission_check' function in versions 2.8.6 to 2.8.8.2. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to access and change the protection status of media.
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 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files
All 3| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium5.3 | Unauthenticated Protected File Access ≤2.8.8.8Update to 2.8.8.9 | CVE-2026-3835 | |
| Medium5.3 | Unauthenticated Sensitive Information Exposure ≤2.8.8Update to 2.8.8.1 | CVE-2025-3923 |
- Medium5.3Unauthenticated Protected File Access
≤2.8.8.8Update to 2.8.8.9
- Medium5.3Unauthenticated Sensitive Information Exposure
≤2.8.8Update to 2.8.8.1
Timeline
CVE published
Severity medium, CVSS 5.4
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.