eteubert Podlove Podcast Publisher Plugin up to 4.5.3 on WordPress create_link_item path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in eteubert Podlove Podcast Publisher Plugin up to 4.5.3. This vulnerability affects the function create_link_item. This manipulation causes path traversal. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2026-16099. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in eteubert Podlove Podcast Publisher Plugin up to 4.5.3. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function create_link_item. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-22. The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The Podlove Podcast Publisher plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to insufficient file path validation in the create_link_item function in all versions up to, and including, 4.5.3. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to delete arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is deleted (such as wp-config.php). A viable POP chain exists within the plugin itself via Podlove\ImageCache\GenerationGuard, whose __destruct() method invokes wp_delete_file() with an attacker-controlled file path populated through unserialization.

It is possible to read the advisory at wordfence.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-16099 since 07/17/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/16/2026). The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1006 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Type

• WordPress Plugin

Vendor

• eteubert

Name

• Podlove Podcast Publisher Plugin

Version

• 4.5.0
• 4.5.1
• 4.5.2
• 4.5.3

CPE 2.3info

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• 🔒
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CPE 2.2info

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