CVE-2026-92713

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-92713 is a high-severity broken access control vulnerability affecting the Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery plugin for WordPress in all versions up to and including 3.0.2. An authenticated attacker holding author-level privileges or higher can abuse insufficient file path validation in the plugin's upload_image function to delete arbitrary files on the underlying web server. Because the plugin is widely deployed across WordPress sites and no patch currently exists, the risk of disruptive file-deletion attacks remains elevated for any site running an affected version with untrusted author accounts.

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability is classified as CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) and stems from insufficient validation of a file path before a deletion operation. The NVD description attributes the flaw to the upload_image function within the Modula Image Gallery plugin. When invoked, this function does not adequately restrict the target path of a file-deletion operation, allowing an attacker to pass values that reach files outside the intended scope.

Critically, the description explicitly states that the path restriction to wp-content/uploads "is not an effective ownership boundary, as all user attachment files reside within that tree." This is an important nuance: even a naive path check that merely confirms a target resides under wp-content/uploads does not prevent an attacker from deleting files that belong to other users. In WordPress, uploaded media for all users — including administrators, editors, and other authors — is stored under the shared wp-content/uploads directory tree. Therefore, an attacker who satisfies the minimal authorization check can target and delete files owned by any other user.

The description further notes that "Authors trivially satisfy the edit_post check on their own galleries." This means the plugin's authorization logic delegates trust to a standard WordPress capability check (edit_post) that an Author naturally passes for content they created. There is no separate, stronger capability requirement — such as manage_options or an explicit ownership verification against the specific uploaded file — before the deletion proceeds.

Taken together, the vulnerability class is an authenticated arbitrary file deletion primitive:

• Attack vector: network (AV:N)
• Privileges required: low — an authenticated Author account (PR:L)
• User interaction: none (UI:N)
• Confidentiality impact: none (C:N)
• Integrity impact: high (I:H) — arbitrary files can be removed
• Availability impact: high (A:H) — deleting critical files can render the site inoperable

Because no technical detail is provided about the exact parameter name, request body structure, or nonce handling of upload_image, those specifics cannot be asserted here. The observable behavior, however, is a deletion operation controlled by attacker-supplied path input validated only against an insufficient boundary.

The absence of a CVE-assigned CNA title and the "Unknown / Unknown" vendor/product mapping in the provided intelligence indicate the advisory is sparse; the vendor has not published a formal fix, and there is no tracked patch source.

Exploitation Scenarios

No public proof-of-concept, Nuclei template, or exploit code is available for CVE-2026-92713. The attack chain below is inferred strictly from the NVD description and the vulnerability class (authenticated arbitrary file deletion via insufficient path validation). No specific request parameters, nonces, or endpoint names are asserted because none are provided in the source data.

1. Reconnaissance / Target Identification. An attacker identifies a WordPress site running the Modula Image Gallery plugin at version 3.0.2 or earlier. Fingerprinting may be performed by inspecting the plugin's static assets under /wp-content/plugins/ or by probing publicly visible gallery pages. The attacker must also possess or obtain an authenticated account with at least Author-level privileges. Author accounts are commonly granted to contributors, guest authors, or via self-registration on misconfigured sites.

2. Triggering the Flaw Class. With an Author session established, the attacker reaches the plugin functionality that invokes the upload_image function. Through that function, the attacker supplies a crafted file path intended to be deleted. Because the function performs insufficient path validation, a path that resolves outside the intended file — but still within or reachable from the insufficiently checked boundary — is accepted for deletion. The authorization check (edit_post) is satisfied for the attacker's own gallery content, so the operation is permitted to proceed.

3. Execution Method (Vulnerability-Class Level). The deletion is carried out by the plugin's server-side file deletion routine. The attacker does not need to upload a malicious payload; the primitive itself is destructive rather than code-executing. The key requirement is supplying a path that the inadequate validation permits but that targets a file the attacker does not own — for example, media uploaded by an administrator or another user, since all attachments reside within the shared wp-content/uploads tree. No further implementation-level detail (specific parameter, request format, or nonce) can be confirmed from the available description.

4. Post-Exploitation Impact. Successful exploitation allows deletion of arbitrary files on the server. Depending on which files are targeted, consequences range from removal of other users' media assets (integrity and reputational impact) to deletion of files whose absence disrupts site operation (availability impact). Because the vulnerability does not provide code execution or data exfiltration directly, the primary outcomes are data destruction and denial of service. Repeated abuse could degrade or break site functionality and destroy valuable content.

Because no public exploit exists, defenders should treat this as a latent, exploitable primitive that any Author-level account holder could exercise with basic tooling once the vulnerable parameter and endpoint are identified through testing.

Impact Assessment

The CVSS 3.1 base score is 8.1 (High) with vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H.

• Attack Vector (Network): The flaw is exploitable remotely over HTTP/HTTPS against the WordPress site.
• Attack Complexity (Low): No special conditions or race windows are required; the deletion proceeds deterministically once the correct path is supplied.
• Privileges Required (Low): An authenticated account with Author-level access or above is sufficient. Author accounts are frequently available on multi-author blogs.
• User Interaction (None): No victim must click or approve anything.
• Scope (Unchanged): The impact is confined to the vulnerable component's security authority.
• Confidentiality (None): The vulnerability does not disclose data.
• Integrity (High): Arbitrary files can be deleted, corrupting site content and structure.
• Availability (High): Deleting critical files can render parts of or the entire site unavailable.

Business impact: WordPress powers a large share of the web, and image gallery plugins are extremely common on marketing, media, and e-commerce sites. A site that relies on the Modula plugin and grants Author access to third parties (freelancers, community contributors, guest authors) is exposed. Loss of core media or plugin files can break pages, force emergency restores, and cause downtime. For organizations subject to availability or data-integrity obligations, an incident of this class can trigger breach-notification analysis and SLA penalties.

Blast radius: All versions up to and including 3.0.2 are affected. Because no patch exists, every deployment on an affected version with at least one Author-level (or higher) account is a candidate target. There is no evidence of mass exploitation or CISA KEV listing, so the immediate real-world blast radius is currently limited to targeted abuse by users who already hold valid Author credentials.

Detection Guidance

Sigma Rule

title: Modula Image Gallery Arbitrary File Deletion Attempt
id: 6f1b7c2a-9d4e-4a1b-8c3f-1a2b3c4d5e6f
status: experimental
description: Detects potential exploitation of CVE-2026-92713 via suspicious upload_image deletion activity in Modula Image Gallery plugin.
references:
  - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-92713
author: valtersit.com
date: 2026/01/01
tags:
  - attack.t1485
  - cve.2026-92713
logsource:
  category: web
  product: apache
detection:
  selection_endpoint:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - 'upload_image'
  selection_deletion:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - 'delete'
      - 'remove'
  condition: selection_endpoint and selection_deletion
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate media management by authorized administrators
level: high

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2026_92713_Modula_Arbitrary_File_Deletion
{
    meta:
        description = "Detects references to the vulnerable upload_image function in Modula Image Gallery plugin source (CVE-2026-92713)"
        author = "valtersit.com"
        date = "2026-01-01"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-92713"
        severity = "high"

    strings:
        $fn = "function upload_image"
        $p1 = "upload_image"
        $plug = "modula-image-gallery"
        $up = "wp-content/uploads"

    condition:
        (uint16(0) == 0x3C3F or uint32(0) == 0x6874646F) and
        $fn and $p1 and any of ($plug, $up)
}

Suricata IDS Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2026-92713 Modula Image Gallery Arbitrary File Deletion Attempt"; flow:established,to_server; http.method; content:"POST"; http.uri; content:"upload_image"; http.uri; content:"delete"; nocase; reference:cve,2026-92713; reference:url,nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-92713; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:9271301; rev:1;)

Elastic Detection

process where event.category == "web" and
  url.path : "*upload_image*" and
  (url.query : "*delete*" or url.query : "*remove*") and
  http.request.method == "POST"

Splunk SPL Query

index=web sourcetype=access_combined
| search uri_path="*upload_image*" (uri_query="*delete*" OR uri_query="*remove*")
| stats count min(_time) as first_seen max(_time) as last_seen by src_ip, uri_path, uri_query, status
| where count > 0
| eval first_seen=strftime(first_seen,"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"), last_seen=strftime(last_seen,"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
| sort - count

Wazuh OSSEC Rule

<group name="web,wordpress,cve-2026-92713">
  <rule id="927130" level="10">
    <decoded_as>web-accesslog</decoded_as>
    <url>upload_image</url>
    <regex type="pcre2">(?i)(delete|remove)</regex>
    <description>CVE-2026-92713: Possible Modula Image Gallery arbitrary file deletion attempt via upload_image</description>
    <mitre>
      <id>T1485</id>
    </mitre>
    <group>cve_2026_92713,attack_data_destruction,</group>
  </rule>
</group>

Mitigation & Patch Guidance

Patch confidence: 0/4 (UNPATCHED — no patch evidence from any tracked source). No vendor fix, workaround, or patched version is available from tracked sources.

1) Immediate mitigations (while unpatched):

• Restrict who can hold the Author role. Audit all users with Author-level or higher privileges and downgrade or remove any account that does not require upload/content authoring capability.
• Disable or restrict self-registration and any mechanism that grants Author-level roles without administrative approval.
• If the gallery plugin is not essential, deactivate and uninstall Modula Image Gallery until a fixed release is available.
• Enforce the principle of least privilege: replace Author accounts used only for content review with lower-privileged roles where possible.
• Back up wp-content/uploads and critical site files regularly and verify restore capability, so destructive deletions can be recovered quickly.
• Deploy and tune the detection rules above to flag anomalous upload_image deletion requests; alert on deletion activity originating from non-administrative accounts.

2) Patch / upgrade steps:

• Monitor the Modula plugin vendor channels and the WordPress plugin repository for a security release addressing CVE-2026-92713. No patched version is currently identified.
• Until a fix ships, treat all versions up to and including 3.0.2 as vulnerable and apply the mitigations above.
• When a patch is released, test it in a staging environment, then schedule an emergency update window across all production instances.
• Re-verify the plugin version after upgrade and confirm the fix resolves the insufficient path validation in upload_image.

3) Long-term hardening:

• Adopt a formal WordPress plugin inventory and vulnerability-management process; track plugins by version and subscribe to authoritative advisory feeds (NVD, WPScan, vendor channels).
• Harden role assignment workflows with mandatory review and time-bound access for external contributors.
• Implement file integrity monitoring (FIM) on wp-content/uploads and other webroot paths to detect unexpected deletions in near real time.
• Enforce Web Application Firewall (WAF) virtual patching capable of blocking malformed deletion requests targeting the plugin endpoint until a permanent fix is applied.
• Maintain immutable, offsite backups with tested recovery procedures as a resilience control against destructive attacks.

References

• NVD — CVE-2026-92713: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-92713
• MITRE CWE-862 (Missing Authorization): https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/862.html
• FIRST EPSS: Not yet scored — https://www.first.org/epss/
• CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (CVE not listed — no KEV entry): https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
• WordPress Plugin Security / WPScan vulnerability database: https://wpscan.com/plugins

Threat actor / exploitation status: No public proof-of-concept, exploit code, or Nuclei template is known at the time of writing, and CVE-2026-92713 is not listed in CISA KEV. No threat actor campaigns or exploit-in-the-wild evidence have been associated with this CVE in the provided intelligence. Exploitation remains a latent risk contingent on an attacker obtaining Author-level access to an affected site.