{"id":59628,"date":"2025-07-25T07:09:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T07:09:51","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-08-31T11:54:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T17:54:29","slug":"cve-2016-15043-wp-mobile-detector-plugin-for-wordpress-arbitrary-file-upload-vulnerability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2016-15043-wp-mobile-detector-plugin-for-wordpress-arbitrary-file-upload-vulnerability\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2016-15043: WP Mobile Detector Plugin for WordPress Arbitrary File Upload Vulnerability<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CVE-2016-15043 is a high-severity vulnerability that particularly affects the WP Mobile Detector plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability is due to the lack of file type validation in the resize.php file in versions up to and including 3.5. Given the popularity of WordPress as a content management system<\/a> (CMS), a large number of websites could potentially be affected. This vulnerability matters because it potentially allows unauthenticated attackers to upload arbitrary<\/a> files to the server of the affected site, potentially enabling remote code execution.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2016-15043
\nSeverity: Critical (9.8 CVSS score)
\nAttack Vector: Network
\nPrivileges Required: None
\nUser Interaction: None
\nImpact: The exploitation of this vulnerability could lead<\/a> to system compromise or data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

WP Mobile Detector plugin for WordPress<\/a> | Up to and including 3.5<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The vulnerability exists due to improper file<\/a> type validation in the resize.php file of the WP Mobile Detector plugin. An attacker can exploit<\/a> this vulnerability by sending specially crafted HTTP requests. This would allow the attacker to upload arbitrary files<\/a> to the server of the affected site, potentially enabling remote code execution. Given that no authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability<\/a>, any unauthenticated attacker could potentially compromise the system or cause data leakage.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability could be exploited. This example demonstrates a HTTP request where an attacker uploads a malicious file<\/a>.<\/p>\n

POST \/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-mobile-detector\/resize.php HTTP\/1.1\nHost: vulnerable-wordpress-site.com\nContent-Type: multipart\/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundary1234\n------WebKitFormBoundary1234\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name=\"file\"; filename=\"malicious.php\"\nContent-Type: application\/x-php\n\n------WebKitFormBoundary1234--<\/code><\/pre>\n
In the above example, the attacker sends a POST request to the resize.php script with a malicious PHP file<\/a>. Once uploaded, the attacker can execute arbitrary commands on the server by simply accessing the uploaded<\/a> file with an appropriate `cmd` parameter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview The CVE-2016-15043 is a high-severity vulnerability that particularly affects the WP Mobile Detector plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability is due to the lack of file type validation in the resize.php file in versions up to and including 3.5. Given the popularity of WordPress as a content management system (CMS), a large number of websites […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[80],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-59628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","attack_vector-rce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t