VulnerabilityPublished 6 Aug 2026

CVE-2026-66695: W3 Total Cache (WordPress plugin) · Path Traversal: '.../...//

Affects W3 Total Cache (WordPress plugin)Source CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 5 Nov 2026, 00:01 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 35% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 5 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-qwxj-263x-rfqj

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
BoldGridW3 Total Cache	Affected ≥ n/a, < 2.10.3	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Until a fix is available, users should monitor official BoldGrid communications for updates and consider applying any recommended temporary mitigations if provided.

Description

CVE-2026-66695 is a medium severity unauthenticated path traversal vulnerability affecting BoldGrid's W3 Total Cache plugin versions up to and including 2.10.2. The flaw allows an attacker to perform path traversal using sequences like '.../...//', potentially leading to limited integrity and availability impacts. No official patch or remediation guidance has been provided yet, and no known exploits are reported in the wild.

Impact

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability remotely without authentication to perform path traversal attacks. This may lead to limited integrity and availability impacts, such as unauthorized modification or disruption of files accessible to the application. Confidentiality is not impacted according to the CVSS vector. No known active exploitation has been reported.

Summary

This vulnerability (CVE-2026-66695) involves an unauthenticated path traversal issue in W3 Total Cache versions <= 2.10.2. The flaw is categorized under CWE-35 and allows attackers to manipulate file paths using sequences such as '.../...//', which may enable unauthorized access to files or resources outside the intended directory. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.5, reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction required, unchanged scope, no confidentiality impact, but limited integrity and availability impacts.

CWE-35Path Traversal: '.../...//' (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2021: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize '.../...//' (doubled triple dot slash) sequences that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

patchstack.com/database/wordpress/plugin/w3-total-cache/vulnerability/wordpress-w3-total-cache-plugin-2-10-2-path-traversal-vulnerability?_s_id=cve (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 13 Aug 2026, 17:13 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-35

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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