Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2020-25213

wp-file-manager

mndpsingh287 / wp-file-manager

Watch CVE-2020-25213 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 10.0 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
97.3%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2020-25213 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting mndpsingh287 wp-file-manager. The File Manager (wp-file-manager) plugin before 6.9 for WordPress allows remote attackers to upload and execute arbitrary PHP...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

mndpsingh287 / wp-file-manager.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

wp-file-manager

The File Manager (wp-file-manager) plugin before 6.9 for WordPress allows remote attackers to upload and execute arbitrary PHP code because it renames an unsafe example elFinder connector file to have the .php extension. This, for example, allows attackers to run the elFinder upload (or mkfile and put) command to write PHP code into the wp-content/plugins/wp-file-manager/lib/files/ directory.

This was exploited in the wild in August and September 2020.

Published
09 Sep 2020
Exploitation Reported
03 Nov 2021
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

cisa wordpress php metasploit nuclei_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 03 Nov 2021

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 10 Oct 2020

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver 2026-07-08 00:00 UTC
Tenable Blog 2026-07-20 13:36 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
0
0
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/wp_file_manager_rce.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-25213.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

10.0 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

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

EPSS

97.3%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type CWE-434

Recent mention · Tenable Blog

wp2shell (CVE-2026-63030, CVE-2026-60137): Frequently asked questions about remote code execution chain in WordPress Core

An unauthenticated attacker can chain two WordPress Core vulnerabilities, CVE-2026-63030 and CVE-2026-60137, to achieve remote code execution against affected WordPress installations. Multiple security firms have confirmed active in-the-wild exploitation within days of public...

Read full advisory

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 10.0 Critical

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

CVSS v2.0 7.5 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

WordPress File Manager Plugin - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

wp_file_manager_rce

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2020-25213

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 13:36 UTC

    KEV confirmed by Tenable Blog

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  2. 00:00 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  3. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  4. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  5. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  6. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  7. 00:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  8. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2020-25213

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2020-25213",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 10.0,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.97328,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}