# CVE-2022-3989: Motors - Car Dealer, Classifieds & Listing < 1.4.4 - Arbitrary File Upload

> An attacker can upload malicious PHP files via an AJAX action to execute arbitrary code on the WordPress site.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 12 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 22 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v968-jc69-vxr8

## What is CVE-2022-3989?

CVE-2022-3989 is a high-severity vulnerability in Unknown Motors, published on 12 Dec 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Motors WordPress plugin before 1.4.4 does not properly validate uploaded files for dangerous file types (such as .php) in an AJAX action, allowing an attacker to sign up on a victim's WordPress instance, upload a malicious PHP file and attempt to launch a brute-force attack to discover the uploaded payload.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-3989?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Stylemixthemes Motors - Car Dealer\, Classifieds \& Listing.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-3989?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-3989 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-3989 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-3989 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in Unknown Motors

- [CVE-2025-2807](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-2807/): Missing authorization in Motors – Car Dealership & Classified Listings Plugin (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-46208](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46208/): WordPress Motors – Car Dealer & Classified Ads Plugin <= 1.4.6 is vulnerable to Cross Site Scripting (XSS) (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2019-17228](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-17228/): Missing authorization in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2019-17229](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-17229/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2025-2808](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-2808/): Cross-site scripting in Motors – Car Dealership & Classified Listings Plugin (medium 5.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-3989 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-3989 is a high-severity vulnerability in Unknown Motors, published on 12 Dec 2022. 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-2022-3989 exists.

Affected product: Unknown Motors. 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-2022-3989/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3989/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-3989
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3989
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-3989

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3989/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.