renehermi Staging Plugin up to 4.19.0 on WordPress Path Validation cleanStagingDirectory deleteDir path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in renehermi Staging Plugin up to 4.19.0. Affected by this vulnerability is the function cleanStagingDirectory of the component Path Validation. Performing a manipulation of the argument deleteDir results in path traversal. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2026-115871. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in renehermi Staging Plugin up to 4.19.0. This affects the function cleanStagingDirectory of the component Path Validation. The manipulation of the argument deleteDir with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as 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. This is going to have an impact on integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Directory Deletion in all versions up to, and including, 4.19.0. This is due to insufficient path validation in the `cleanStagingDirectory` function, where the `deleteDir` parameter is only stripped of whitespace and double slashes by `sanitizePath()` without removing `..` traversal sequences or enforcing containment within the staging directory, leaving the sole pre-deletion guard as a simple string equality check against the WordPress home path. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with administrator-level access and above, to recursively delete arbitrary directories on the server — including `wp-content`, `wp-admin`, or directories outside the WordPress installation on shared hosting — resulting in denial of service or permanent data loss. An attacker must sequence a clone start, cancellation, and restart to drive the `delete_job` cache into the `directory` step before re-cancelling with a manipulated `deleteDir` value supplied via the `wp_ajax_wpstg_cancel_clone` endpoint.

The advisory is shared at wordfence.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-115871 since 10/23/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1006 for this issue.

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

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• WordPress Plugin

Vendor

• renehermi

Name

• Staging Plugin

Version

• 4.0
• 4.1
• 4.2
• 4.3
• 4.4
• 4.5
• 4.6
• 4.7
• 4.8
• 4.9
• 4.10
• 4.11
• 4.12
• 4.13
• 4.14
• 4.15
• 4.16
• 4.17
• 4.18
• 4.19.0

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion