Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files <= 2.8.8.8 — Unauthenticated Protected File Access
CVE-2026-3835Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: ≤2.8.8.8Update to 2.8.8.9 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- Medium5.3
- CVSS
- 5.3CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:NWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:NPrivileges required- None
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:LConfidentiality- Low
I:NIntegrity- None
A:NAvailability- None
- Weakness
- CWE-285 Improper Authorization
- Required access
- No account needed
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files prevent-direct-access
- Affected≤ 2.8.8.8
- Patched in2.8.8.9
Update to 2.8.8.9 or newer.
You are affected if you run ≤ 2.8.8.8. Version 2.8.8.9 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.
- No account is needed to exploit this. Treat any exposed site on an affected version as at risk.
What to do
- Update to version 2.8.8.9, 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 Lucas Montes (NiRoX).
The Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of protected files due to insufficient token validation in the `get_advance_file_by_url()` method in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.8.8 The method uses a SQL `LIKE` operator for token lookup without escaping wildcard characters via `$wpdb->esc_like()`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass the private token requirement by supplying SQL wildcard characters (such as `%`) as the token value, matching any record in the plugin's file table and downloading any protected file.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium5.4 | 2.8.8.2 - Incorrect Authorization to Authenticated (Contributor+) Multiple Media Actions 2.8.6 – 2.8.8.2Update to 2.8.8.3 | CVE-2025-3861 | |
| Medium5.3 | Unauthenticated Sensitive Information Exposure ≤2.8.8Update to 2.8.8.1 | CVE-2025-3923 |
- Medium5.42.8.8.2 - Incorrect Authorization to Authenticated (Contributor+) Multiple Media Actions
2.8.6 – 2.8.8.2Update to 2.8.8.3
- Medium5.3Unauthenticated Sensitive Information Exposure
≤2.8.8Update to 2.8.8.1
Timeline
CVE published
Severity medium, CVSS 5.3
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.