CVE-2026-18051 Path traversal in W3 Total Cache
Unauthenticated attackers can write arbitrary files to any directory or overwrite .htaccess files, potentially breaking the site or removing security rules.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-18051?
CVE-2026-18051 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in Unknown W3 Total Cache, published on 19 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The W3 Total Cache WordPress plugin before 2.10.5 does not properly validate the request path it uses to build cache file names, allowing unauthenticated attackers to write a file into any existing directory on the server, inside or outside the web root, overwriting whatever occupies the target name. On Apache, the same flaw overwrites the site's .htaccess files, which breaks the site and can strip hardening rules that other security measures rely on.
Weakness: CWE-22
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-18051?
How do I fix CVE-2026-18051?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-18051 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-18051 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-18051 exists.
Public exploit code: 1 Nuclei template.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-3qrw-968g-4hqv.