Executive brief
The Podlove Podcast Publisher plugin for WordPress, used for managing and publishing podcast feeds, contains a security flaw in its image caching system. An unauthenticated attacker can upload malicious files, such as PHP scripts, to the web server by disguising them as images. If successful, this allows the attacker to take complete control of the website, potentially leading to data theft, site defacement, or the installation of malware.
Technical details
The Podlove Podcast Publisher plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file uploads via the 'podlove_handle_cache_files' function in versions up to and including 4.5.1. The vulnerability stems from a logic flaw where the plugin derived the final cache file extension from the remote URL path while performing validation on a different filename derived from the full source URL. This allowed 'polyglot' files (e.g., payload.php?.heic) to pass image validation while being stored on the server with an executable .php extension. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this to upload malicious scripts and achieve remote code execution. The issue has been addressed in subsequent versions by enforcing safe image extensions and validating the downloaded file type against the stored extension.
Affected products
- eteubert Podlove Podcast Publisher <= 4.5.1
Timeline
- 2026-06-27: patched: Fix committed to GitHub repository
- 2026-07-14: disclosed: CVE published and advisory released by Wordfence
References
- https://github.com/podlove/podlove-publisher/commit/5b32468601e903bae2bcacfaf36ff583d2bc9387
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/podlove-podcasting-plugin-for-wordpress/tags/4.4.2/lib/model/image.php
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3597461/podlove-podcasting-plugin-for-wordpress
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f81a3429-f378-4295-adbe-ad6f1df59701?source=cve