Threats / WordPress / CVE-2020-11738
CVE-2020-11738
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
WordPress Snap Creek Duplicator Plugin vulnerability
The Snap Creek Duplicator plugin for WordPress contains a path traversal vulnerability allowing attackers to download sensitive site backup files through the admin dashboard without proper access controls.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An unauthenticated or low-privileged attacker can exploit improper file access controls in the Duplicator plugin to retrieve backup archives containing complete site data, database contents, and configuration files, leading to full site compromise.
CISA KEV Yes · 2021-11-035EPSS 0.97822 (verify live)6Exploit Public PoC7CVSS 7.53CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: partial4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Public proof-of-concept exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
500 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.97822 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.5 (CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/A:N/C:H/I:N/PR:N/S:U/UI:N) · Affected: WordPress, Snap Creek Duplicator Plugin. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.0, set at disclosure.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-22 Path Traversal — weakness family: Path traversal / file.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: partialCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 569 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a public proof-of-concept / detection template). Catalog entries: Metasploit module, nuclei template. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I identify that the Duplicator plugin stores backup files with predictable paths accessible via the WordPress dashboard.
Business
Site administrators unknowingly expose complete backup archives containing databases, credentials, and source code to unauthorized download.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I download the generated backup files by exploiting the missing access validation in the file retrieval mechanism.
Business
Attackers obtain full copies of the WordPress installation including user accounts, configuration secrets, and sensitive business data.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I extract credentials, API keys, and database information from the downloaded backup archives.
Business
Compromised credentials enable lateral movement, data theft, and persistent unauthorized access to the WordPress environment and connected systems.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05