# CVE-2019-8943: Path traversal in n/a

> An attacker with image cropping privileges can write files to arbitrary directories via path traversal in wp_crop_image().

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Feb 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2019-8943, GHSA-558v-vpgj-m324, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-8943

## What is CVE-2019-8943?

CVE-2019-8943 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Wordpress Wordpress, published on 20 Feb 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

WordPress through 5.0.3 allows Path Traversal in wp_crop_image(). An attacker (who has privileges to crop an image) can write the output image to an arbitrary directory via a filename containing two image extensions and ../ sequences, such as a filename ending with the .jpg?/../../file.jpg substring.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-8943?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wordpress Wordpress.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-8943?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-8943 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-8943 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-8943 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Exploit of CVE-2019-8942 and CVE-2019-8943  (github_poc): https://github.com/oussama-rahali/CVE-2019-8943
- CVE-2019-8943 WordPress Crop-Image (github_poc): https://github.com/hadrian3689/wordpress_cropimage
- WordPress Crop-image Shell Upload (metasploit)
- WordPress Core 5.0 - Remote Code Execution (exploitdb)
- WordPress Core 5.0.0 - Crop-image Shell Upload (Metasploit) (exploitdb)
- WordPress Core 5.0.0 - Crop-image Shell Upload (nuclei): http/cves/2019/CVE-2019-8943.yaml

## 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-2019-8943 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-8943 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Wordpress Wordpress, published on 20 Feb 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-8943 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-2019-8943/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8943/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-8943
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-8943
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-8943

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8943/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.