CVE-2026-14327
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 · uneditedThe AR for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 8.40 via the 'file' parameter parameter. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to read the contents of arbitrary files on the server, which can contain sensitive information. Exploitation requires an attacker to first obtain a valid nonce and secure nonce via the publicly accessible ar_get_fresh_nonce and ar_process_user_image nopriv AJAX handlers, and to reproduce the encryption key locally — both steps are fully achievable by an unauthenticated attacker on any default free or unlicensed installation where ar_licence_key is unset.
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 AR for WordPress plugin before version 8.41 contains a directory traversal vulnerability via the 'file' parameter. Unauthenticated attackers can obtain valid nonces from publicly accessible AJAX handlers (ar_get_fresh_nonce and ar_process_user_image nopriv) and reproduce the encryption key locally on default installations where ar_licence_key is unset, enabling arbitrary file read on the server.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 the installed AR plugin versionNavigate to WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate the 'AR' plugin. The version number is displayed under the plugin name. Alternatively, check the plugin's main PHP file header or version.php for the 'Version' constant.Affected if The version is lower than 8.41 (e.g., 8.40, 8.32, etc.)
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Verify the ar_licence_key configuration stateSearch the WordPress configuration file (wp-config.php) and the AR plugin configuration files for the 'ar_licence_key' entry. Check if it is set to a value or left empty/undefined.Affected if ar_licence_key is unset, null, or empty (the default installation state)
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Confirm AJAX handler accessibilityMake an HTTP GET request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=ar_get_fresh_nonce and /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=ar_process_user_image. No authentication should be required for nopriv handlers.Affected if The AJAX handlers return valid nonce values without requiring authentication
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Test for directory traversal vulnerabilitySend an HTTP GET request to the plugin's AJAX endpoint with a 'file' parameter containing traversal sequences such as ../../../../wp-config.php. Check if the file contents are returned.Affected if The server returns the contents of files outside the intended directory
A user is affected if they are running an AR plugin version before 8.41 with ar_licence_key unset and the AJAX handlers are publicly accessible, allowing unauthenticated directory traversal file reads.
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 to version 8.41 or later to patch the directory traversal vulnerability. Until an update is applied, consider disabling the plugin or implementing web application firewall rules to block traversal sequences in the 'file' parameter.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-14327 — 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-2026-14327 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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- 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
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