{"id":"CVE-2026-16585","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"Better Messages <= 2.15.19 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Arbitrary File Deletion via Path Traversal via 'file' Parameter","description":"The Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to insufficient file path validation in the delete_sticker function in all versions up to, and including, 2.15.19. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with administrator-level access and above, to delete arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is deleted (such as wp-config.php). The prefix check intended to restrict deletion to the uploads directory can be bypassed by crafting a URL that begins with the legitimate uploads base URL but embeds ../ traversal sequences in the path portion, as the normalize_sticker function only applies esc_url_raw(), which does not strip ../ sequences, allowing the traversal payload to be stored verbatim in WordPress options.","publishedAt":"2026-07-28T05:39:44.828Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-28T16:05:04.482Z","severity":{"score":7.2,"label":"High","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","source":"Wordfence"},"assigner":"Wordfence","products":["wordplus Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots"],"affected":[{"vendor":"wordplus","product":"Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThanOrEqual":"2.15.19","versionType":"semver"}]}],"references":["https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e9274957-7584-4df6-bb2a-d745510f5033?source=cve","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-better-messages/tags/2.15.19/addons/stickers/rest.php#L285","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-better-messages/tags/2.15.19/addons/stickers/rest.php#L287","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-better-messages/tags/2.15.19/addons/stickers/pack-manager.php#L764","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-better-messages/tags/2.15.19/addons/stickers/rest.php#L153","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3623636/bp-better-messages/trunk/addons/stickers/rest.php?old=3527109&old_path=bp-better-messages%2Ftrunk%2Faddons%2Fstickers%2Frest.php"],"weaknesses":["CWE-22"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:11:00.674Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/16xxx/CVE-2026-16585.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-16585","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-07-28T05:39:44.828Z","dateUpdated":"2026-07-28T16:05:04.482Z","assignerShortName":"Wordfence","assignerOrgId":"b15e7b5b-3da4-40ae-a43c-f7aa60e62599","dateReserved":"2026-07-22T13:45:18.223Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"Better Messages <= 2.15.19 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Arbitrary File Deletion via Path Traversal via 'file' Parameter","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"The Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to insufficient file path validation in the delete_sticker function in all versions up to, and including, 2.15.19. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with administrator-level access and above, to delete arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is deleted (such as wp-config.php). The prefix check intended to restrict deletion to the uploads directory can be bypassed by crafting a URL that begins with the legitimate uploads base URL but embeds ../ traversal sequences in the path portion, as the normalize_sticker function only applies esc_url_raw(), which does not strip ../ sequences, allowing the traversal payload to be stored verbatim in WordPress options."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"wordplus","product":"Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThanOrEqual":"2.15.19","versionType":"semver"}]}],"references":[{"url":"https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e9274957-7584-4df6-bb2a-d745510f5033?source=cve"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-better-messages/tags/2.15.19/addons/stickers/rest.php#L285"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-better-messages/tags/2.15.19/addons/stickers/rest.php#L287"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-better-messages/tags/2.15.19/addons/stickers/pack-manager.php#L764"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-better-messages/tags/2.15.19/addons/stickers/rest.php#L153"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3623636/bp-better-messages/trunk/addons/stickers/rest.php?old=3527109&old_path=bp-better-messages%2Ftrunk%2Faddons%2Fstickers%2Frest.php"}],"metrics":[{"cvssV3_1":{"version":"3.1","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","baseScore":7.2,"baseSeverity":"HIGH"}}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-22","lang":"en","description":"CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')","type":"CWE"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Wordfence","orgId":"b15e7b5b-3da4-40ae-a43c-f7aa60e62599","dateUpdated":"2026-07-28T05:39:44.828Z"},"credits":[{"lang":"en","type":"finder","value":"Wordfence PRISM"}],"timeline":[{"time":"2026-07-22T14:00:28.000Z","lang":"en","value":"Vendor Notified"},{"time":"2026-07-27T16:36:42.000Z","lang":"en","value":"Disclosed"}]},"adp":[{"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment","metrics":[{"other":{"type":"ssvc","content":{"timestamp":"2026-07-28T16:04:56.383370Z","id":"CVE-2026-16585","options":[{"Exploitation":"none"},{"Automatable":"no"},{"Technical Impact":"total"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","version":"2.0.3"}}}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CISA-ADP","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","dateUpdated":"2026-07-28T16:05:04.482Z"}}]}}}