# CVE-2022-2981: Download Monitor < 4.5.98 - Admin+ Arbitrary File Download

> Administrators can download sensitive files like wp-config.php or /etc/passwd due to missing path validation in the Download Monitor plugin.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Oct 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2739-p2pg-h53m

## What is CVE-2022-2981?

CVE-2022-2981 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Unknown Download Monitor, published on 10 Oct 2022. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Download Monitor WordPress plugin before 4.5.98 does not ensure that files to be downloaded are inside the blog folders, and not sensitive, allowing high privilege users such as admin to download the wp-config.php or /etc/passwd even in an hardened environment or multisite setup.

Weakness: CWE-552 (Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-2981?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wpchill Download Monitor.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-2981?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-2981 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-2981 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-2981 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Unknown Download Monitor

- [CVE-2023-34007](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34007/): WordPress Download Monitor Plugin <= 4.8.3 is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Upload (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2024-30501](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-30501/): WordPress Download Monitor theme <= 4.9.4 - Auth. SQL Injection vulnerability (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2022-4972](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4972/): Download Monitor <= 4.7.51 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Data Export (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2021-24786](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24786/): Download Monitor < 4.4.5 - Admin+ SQL Injection (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2021-31567](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31567/): WordPress Download Monitor plugin <= 4.4.6 - Authenticated Arbitrary File Download vulnerability (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-2981 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-2981 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Unknown Download Monitor, published on 10 Oct 2022. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-2981 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Unknown Download Monitor. 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-2022-2981/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2981/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-2981
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-2981
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-2981

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2981/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.