Authenticated limited file read via unchecked ref path
Published May 5, 2026 · Updated May 5, 2026
Path traversal in Tim Whitlock Loco Translate 2.8.2 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to read limited server files via AJAX. The fsReference route passes ref values containing ../ to findSourceFile(), which normalizes them without checking that the resolved path remains under the bundle or content directory. The loco_admin capability is required; the default translator role and administrators have it, and reads are limited to PHP, JS, JSON, and Twig files while wp-config.php is blocked.
Summary
What happened
Path traversal in Tim Whitlock Loco Translate 2.8.2 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to read limited server files via AJAX. The fsReference route passes ref values containing ../ to findSourceFile(), which normalizes them without checking that the resolved path remains under the bundle or content directory. The loco_admin capability is required; the default translator role and administrators have it, and reads are limited to PHP, JS, JSON, and Twig files while wp-config.php is blocked.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-1921
- Published
- May 5, 2026
- Updated
- May 5, 2026
- Vendor
- Tim Whitlock
- Product
- Loco Translate
- Classifications
- CWE-22, T1005
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 5, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=0 <=2.8.2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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