CVE-2026-3835

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.

References

• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.4/includes/repository.php#L221
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/trunk/download.php#L377
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/prevent-direct-access/trunk/includes/repository.php#L221
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3637499/prevent-direct-access/trunk/includes/repository.php
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=%2Fprevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.8&new_path=%2Fprevent-direct-access/tags/2.8.8.9