WordPress security changelog
HIGH CVE-2026-5436 Deferred

MW WP Form: Code execution

MW WP Form is affected by code execution. The vulnerable path is reachable without authentication. Successful exploitation can run attacker-controlled code in the WordPress hosting account. The published affected range is <= 5.1.1.

CVE / CNA score 8.1 CVSS 3.1 · security@wordfence.com
NVD score Pending NVD has not published its own CVSS assessment.
Component
MW WP Form
Plugin slug
mw-wp-form
Affected
<= 5.1.1
Safe version
> 5.1.1
Published
Apr 08, 2026
Weakness
CWE-22 — Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

This CVE was published Apr 08, 2026 and is one of 9 known issues for this plugin.

Update, patch or deactivate.

Update MW WP Form to a release after 5.1.1, or disable and remove it until a fixed version is available.

A safe version is available, so updating to that version or later is the preferred remediation. If an immediate update is not practical, consider a targeted application patch or temporarily restricting the affected functionality.

Deactivate only when warranted by your risk profile, or when advised by your hosting provider in the limited circumstances where the vulnerability cannot otherwise be mitigated. If you’re unsure which action is appropriate, contact Fused or your hosting provider for guidance.

Technical description

The MW WP Form plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Move/Read in all versions up to and including 5.1.1. This is due to insufficient validation of the $name parameter (upload field key) passed to the generate_user_file_dirpath() function, which uses WordPress's path_join() — a function that returns absolute paths unchanged, discarding the intended base directory. The attacker-controlled key is injected via the mwf_upload_files[] POST parameter, which is loaded into the plugin's Data model via _set_request_valiables(). During form processing, regenerate_upload_file_keys() iterates over these keys and calls generate_user_filepath() with the attacker-supplied key as the $name argument — the key survives validation because the targeted file (e.g., wp-config.php) genuinely exists at the absolute path. The _get_attachments() method then re-reads the same surviving keys and passes the resolved file path to move_temp_file_to_upload_dir(), which calls rename() to move the file into the uploads folder. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to move arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is moved (such as wp-config.php). The vulnerability is only exploitable if a file upload field is added to the form and the “Saving inquiry data in database” option is enabled.

CVE / CNA vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary and upstream sources