CVE-2026-4132CWE-73

HTTP Headers <= 1.19.2 - Authenticated (Administrator+) External Control of File Name or Path to RCE via 'hh_htpasswd_path' and 'hh_www_authenticate_user' Parameters

High · published April 22, 2026

CVSS v3.1
7.2
EPSS
2%
Percentile
74.9
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

The HTTP Headers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to External Control of File Name or Path leading to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to and including 1.19.2. This is due to insufficient validation of the file path stored in the 'hh_htpasswd_path' option and lack of sanitization on the 'hh_www_authenticate_user' option value. The plugin allows administrators to set an arbitrary file path for the htpasswd file location and does not validate that the path has a safe file extension (e.g., restricting to .htpasswd). Additionally, the username field used for HTTP Basic Authentication is written directly into the file without sanitization. The apache_auth_credentials() function constructs the file content using the unsanitized username via sprintf('%s:{SHA}%s', $user, ...), and update_auth_credentials() writes this content to the attacker-controlled path via file_put_contents(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Administrator-level access and above, to write arbitrary content (including PHP code) to arbitrary file paths on the server, effectively achieving Remote Code Execution.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
7.2 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.01551 · 74.9th percentile
Weakness
CWE-73 · External Control of File Name or Path
Published
2026-04-22T07:45Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 22 APR 07:45Z
    HTTP Headers <= 1.19.2 - Authenticated (Administrator+) External Control of File Name or Path to RCE via 'hh_htpasswd_path' and 'hh_www_authenticate_user' Parameters
    cvelistv5