# CVE-2016-6897: Cross-site request forgery in n/a

> Remote attackers can hijack subscriber authentication via CSRF in WordPress plugin update actions, potentially leading to account takeover.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Jan 2017
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-6897, GHSA-rxch-vxwr-47jw, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-6897

## What is CVE-2016-6897?

CVE-2016-6897 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Wordpress Wordpress, published on 18 Jan 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.

Weakness: CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-6897?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wordpress Wordpress.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-6897?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-6897 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-6897 exists.

Public exploit code:

- WordPress Core 4.5.3 - Directory Traversal / Denial of Service (exploitdb)
- WordPress Traversal Directory DoS (metasploit)

## Other vulnerabilities in Wordpress Wordpress

- [CVE-2026-63030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-63030/): WordPress Core Interpretation Conflict (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-87902](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-87902/): WordPress Core Remote File Inclusion (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-60137](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-60137/): WordPress Core SQL Injection (medium 5.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2012-2399](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2399/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2012-2400](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2400/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-6897 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-6897 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Wordpress Wordpress, published on 18 Jan 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-6897 exists.

Affected product: Wordpress Wordpress. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6897/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6897/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-6897
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6897
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-6897

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6897/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.