CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2025-14059 — The EmailKit plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Read via Path Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 1.6.1

Medium CVSS 6.5

The EmailKit plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Read via Path Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 1.6.1. This is due to missing path validation in the create_template REST API endpoint where user-controlled input from the emailkit-editor-template parameter is passed directly to file_get_contents() without sanitization. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Author-level permissions or higher to read arbitrary files on the server, including sensitive configuration files like /etc/passwd and wp-config.php, via the REST API. The file contents are stored in post meta and can be exfiltrated through MetForm's email confirmation feature.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.5 (3.1)
Published
2026-01-07
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
php/wordpress
Weaknesses
CWE-73

Affected products

No browser-safe affected-product rows are available.

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.