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OpenAdvisories
Medium · 5.3 CVE-2026-3835 EUVD-2026-57720GHSA-xxpw-3xg9-qwph

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

Published Aug 13, 2026 · Updated Aug 13, 2026 · Assigned by Wordfence

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

VendorProductAffectedFixed
buildwps Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files ≤ 2.8.8.8 —

References