User Profile \& MembershipWordPress extension · Ultimatemember
CVE-2018-0588
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 · uneditedDirectory traversal vulnerability in the AJAX function of Ultimate Member plugin prior to version 2.0.4 for WordPress allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceA directory traversal vulnerability exists in the AJAX function of the Ultimate Member WordPress plugin versions prior to 2.0.4. The flaw allows remote unauthenticated attackers to manipulate file path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../) in AJAX requests to access sensitive files outside the web root directory, potentially exposing configuration files, credentials, or other system files.
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
User Profile \& MembershipWordPress extension
< 2.0.4CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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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Identify if Ultimate Member plugin is installedLog into WordPress admin dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Look for 'Ultimate Member' in the list of active plugins.Affected if Ultimate Member plugin appears in the installed plugins list
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Check the installed version of Ultimate MemberIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Find Ultimate Member and compare the version number displayed against the affected range (versions prior to 2.0.4).Affected if The installed version is lower than 2.0.4
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Verify AJAX functionality is accessibleTest access to the Ultimate Member AJAX endpoint by making a request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with a Ultimate Member action parameter. This endpoint is typically accessible without authentication.Affected if The AJAX endpoint responds and accepts Ultimate Member actions
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Check for unauthenticated AJAX accessSend a directory traversal pattern (e.g., ../../../) in an AJAX request to the Ultimate Member AJAX endpoint without providing authentication credentials.Affected if The request is processed without requiring authentication and the server responds to path traversal patterns
A user is affected if the Ultimate Member plugin version is below 2.0.4 and the AJAX endpoint is accessible to unauthenticated users.
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 data2.0.4
Upgrade Ultimate Member plugin to version 2.0.4 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider disabling the plugin or implementing web application firewall rules to block directory traversal patterns in AJAX requests.
Fix this in User Profile \& Membership
Scoped from the published advisory
- 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-2018-0588 — 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-2018-0588 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