CVE-2016-6897
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin...
CVE-2016-6897 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Wordpress, published January 18, 2017. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 28.8%, the 98th percentile. Fixed in wordpress 4.6.1+dfsg-1.
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.
- Record
CVE-2016-6897- CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 4.3 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-352
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.
- Record
CVE-2016-6897- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2016-7782 No score
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.
- Record
EUVD-2016-7782- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-rxch-vxwr-47jw
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin...
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.
- Record
GHSA-rxch-vxwr-47jw- CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-352
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.
- Record
CVE-2016-6897- CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2016-6897
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2016-6897- CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2016-6897
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wp_ajax_update_plugin function in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php in WordPress before 4.6 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of subscribers for /dev/random read operations by leveraging a late call to the check_ajax_referer function, a related issue to CVE-2016-6896.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2016-6897- CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
wordpressDebian:12 |
before 4.6.1+dfsg-1 | 4.6.1+dfsg-1 |
wordpressDebian:13 |
before 4.6.1+dfsg-1 | 4.6.1+dfsg-1 |
wordpressDebian:14 |
before 4.6.1+dfsg-1 | 4.6.1+dfsg-1 |
wordpressUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.3+dfsg-14.3.1+dfsg-14.4+dfsg-14.4.1+dfsg-14.4.2+dfsg-14.4.2+dfsg-1ubuntu1 |
None known |
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Exploit-DB | WordPress Core 4.5.3 - Directory Traversal / Denial of Service | 2016-08-22 |
| Metasploit | WordPress Traversal Directory DoS |
History
| When | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-03 | aliases | EUVD |
| 2026-11-02 | created | CVE List, Exploit-DB, GitHub Advisories, Metasploit, NVD, OSV |