CVE-2011-5051
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMultiple unrestricted file upload vulnerabilities in the WP Symposium plugin before 11.12.24 for WordPress allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by uploading a file with an executable extension using (1) uploadify/upload_admin_avatar.php or (2) uploadify/upload_profile_avatar.php, then accessing it via a direct request to the file in an unspecified directory inside the webroot.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe WP Symposium plugin before version 11.12.24 for WordPress contains unrestricted file upload vulnerabilities in uploadify/upload_admin_avatar.php and uploadify/upload_profile_avatar.php. Attackers can upload files with executable extensions (such as .php) and then execute them by directly accessing the uploaded file within the webroot, achieving arbitrary code execution.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 11.12.08= 11.9.10= 11.9.14= 11.9.17= 11.9.24= 11.10.1= 11.10.8= 11.10.15= 11.10.22= 11.10.29= 11.11.5= 11.11.12CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if WP Symposium plugin is installedIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'WP Symposium' or 'Wpsymposium', or inspect the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for a folder named 'wp-symposium' or similarAffected if The plugin is present on the WordPress installation
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Identify installed WP Symposium versionIn WordPress admin, view the plugin details page to see the version number, or check the main plugin PHP file for the 'Version' header commentAffected if The version displayed is <= 11.12.08 OR exactly matches one of these: 11.9.10, 11.9.14, 11.9.17, 11.9.24, 11.10.1, 11.10.8, 11.10.15, 11.10.22, 11.10.29, 11.11.5, 11.11.12
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Verify uploadify upload files existCheck the plugin directory for the presence of uploadify/upload_admin_avatar.php and uploadify/upload_profile_avatar.php files within the wp-symposium plugin folderAffected if Both uploadify/upload_admin_avatar.php and uploadify/upload_profile_avatar.php files exist in the plugin directory
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Confirm plugin is activeIn WordPress admin > Plugins, verify that WP Symposium shows as 'Active'Affected if The plugin is active and the uploadify upload files are present
You are affected if the WP Symposium plugin is installed with a version <= 11.12.08 or matching any of the listed affected versions, and the uploadify upload files exist and are accessible on the server.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate the WP Symposium plugin to version 11.12.24 or later, which contains the patch for unrestricted file uploads. If immediate update is not possible, consider disabling the affected uploadify functionality or the entire plugin until the patch can be applied.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-5051 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-5051 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data