Admin Word Count Column <= 2.2 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read

published 2022-04-25 4 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2022-24707

cvss: 9.8; version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 21.9%; EPSS 21.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 97%
public exploits: 0; none known, plus a Nuclei check

The Admin Word Count Column WordPress plugin through 2.2 does not validate the path parameter given to readfile(), which could allow unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files on server running old version of PHP susceptible to the null byte technique. This could also lead to RCE by using a Phar Deserialization technique

Exploit prediction

21.88% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 97% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

Nuclei template WordPress Admin Word Count Column 2.2 - Local File Inclusion nuclei detection template
wpscan.com https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/6293b319-dc4f-4412-9d56-55744246c990 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
packetstormsecurity.com https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166476/ referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.1	9.8	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	2.0	7.5	AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Affected products

Unknown Admin Word Count Column

Classification

Weakness

CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory

Technology feeds

WordPress rss critical rss

References

wpscan.com /vulnerability/6293b319-dc4f-4412-9d56-55744246c990
exploit, third-party-advisory
packetstormsecurity.com /files/166476/
exploit, third-party-advisory, vdb-entry

Sources

CVE List CVE-2022-1390
NVD CVE-2022-1390

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary