Vulnerability · Published Aug 13, 2026 · Assigned by Wordfence

CVE-2026-3835Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files <= 2.8.8.8 - Unauthenticated Protected File Access

Medium 5.3

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files from buildwps. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.5% (higher than 41% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 3.1)5.3Medium

Exploit odds (30 days)0.5%top 58.8% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

The Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of protected files due to insufficient token validation in the `get_advance_file_by_url()` method in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.8.8 The method uses a SQL `LIKE` operator for token lookup without escaping wildcard characters via `$wpdb->esc_like()`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass the private token requirement by supplying SQL wildcard characters (such as `%`) as the token value, matching any record in the plugin's file table and downloading any protected file.

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
buildwps	Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files	0 – through 2.8.8.8

Weakness: CWE-285 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

In plain English

Official description

Affected products (as reported)

References