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Fencer Vulns
high 7.2

CVE-2026-16585 json

Better Messages <= 2.15.19 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Arbitrary File Deletion via Path Traversal via 'file' Parameter

published 2026-07-28 3 mo ago modified 2026-07-28 3 mo ago also EUVD-2026-49697

cvss
7.2
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.2%
EPSS 1.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 67%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to insufficient file path validation in the delete_sticker function in all versions up to, and including, 2.15.19. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with administrator-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). The prefix check intended to restrict deletion to the uploads directory can be bypassed by crafting a URL that begins with the legitimate uploads base URL but embeds ../ traversal sequences in the path portion, as the normalize_sticker function only applies esc_url_raw(), which does not strip ../ sequences, allowing the traversal payload to be stored verbatim in WordPress options.

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
3 mo ago

Exploit prediction

1.15% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 67% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • wordplus Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Technology feeds

References

Sources

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.