🔐 CVE Alert

CVE-2026-3835

MEDIUM 5.3

Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files <= 2.8.8.8 - Unauthenticated Protected File Access

CVSS Score
5.3
EPSS Score
0.0%
EPSS Percentile
0th

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.

CWE CWE-285
Vendor buildwps
Product prevent direct access – protect wordpress files
Published Aug 13, 2026
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CVSS v3 Breakdown

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Attack Vector
Attack Complexity
Privileges Required
User Interaction
Scope
Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability

Affected Versions

buildwps / Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files
0 ≤ 2.8.8.8

References

NVD ↗ CVE.org ↗ EPSS Data ↗
wordfence.com: https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/c39d16f1-ce80-402c-8a36-f9070dc5f9c9?source=cve plugins.trac.wordpress.org: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/trunk/includes/repository.php#L221 plugins.trac.wordpress.org: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.4/includes/repository.php#L221 plugins.trac.wordpress.org: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/trunk/download.php#L377 wordpress.org: https://wordpress.org/plugins/prevent-direct-access/ plugins.trac.wordpress.org: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&new=3637502%40prevent-direct-access%2Ftags%2F2.8.8.9&old=3524320%40prevent-direct-access%2Ftags%2F2.8.8.8 plugins.trac.wordpress.org: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3637499/prevent-direct-access/trunk/includes/repository.php plugins.trac.wordpress.org: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=%2Fprevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.8&new_path=%2Fprevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.9

Credits

Lucas Montes (NiRoX)