Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
CVE-2026-16610 is a critical-severity unrestricted upload of file with dangerous type vulnerability in Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro from ASE, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro versions: 8.9.0 and earlier. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 1.07% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 65% of scored CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASE | Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro | 8.9.0 and earlier | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (wordfence.com).
Official description
The Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to, and including, 8.9.0 via the recursive_html function. This is due to the frontend save handler enforces only a publicly emitted nonce with no authentication check, CAPTCHA validation is bypassable by omitting an attacker-supplied key, and repeater row keys from cfgroup[input] are stored verbatim and later spliced into an eval() call in recursive_html without any sanitization or identifier validation. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute code on the server. This requires the [post_cf_form] shortcode to be present on at least one publicly accessible page, as the nonce and session ID needed to reach the vulnerable save handler are emitted to unauthenticated visitors by that shortcode.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
The product allows the upload or transfer of dangerous file types that are automatically processed within its environment.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Generate a new, unique filename for an uploaded file instead of using the user-supplied filename, so that no external input is used at all.
- When the set of acceptable objects, such as filenames or URLs, is limited or known, create a mapping from a set of fixed input values (such as numeric IDs) to the actual filenames or URLs, and reject all other inputs.
- Consider storing the uploaded files outside of the web document root entirely. Then, use other mechanisms to deliver the files dynamically.
More Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerabilities (CWE-434)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
References
Other references
Recent Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerabilities
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.1 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.9 Critical severity
- 7.2 High severity
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