CVE-2026-1557 – The WP Responsive Images WordPress plugin conta... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2026-1557?

CVE-2026-1557 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). The WP Responsive Images WordPress plugin contains a path traversal vulnerability in the 'src' parameter that allows unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files on the server. This affects all versions up to and including 1.0, potentially exposing sensitive configuration files, credentials, and other confidential data.

📋 TL;DR

The WP Responsive Images WordPress plugin contains a path traversal vulnerability in the 'src' parameter that allows unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files on the server. This affects all versions up to and including 1.0, potentially exposing sensitive configuration files, credentials, and other confidential data.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

WP Responsive Images WordPress Plugin

Versions: All versions up to and including 1.0

Operating Systems: All operating systems running WordPress

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All installations with the vulnerable plugin version are affected regardless of configuration.

⚠️ Manual Verification Required

This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.

Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).

🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.

Recommended Actions:

Review the CVE details at NVD
Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Attackers could read sensitive files like wp-config.php containing database credentials, SSH keys, or other configuration files, leading to complete site compromise and data exfiltration.

🟠

Likely Case

Attackers will read WordPress configuration files to obtain database credentials and potentially gain administrative access to the site.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper file permissions and web server restrictions, impact is limited to readable files within the web root directory.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

The vulnerability is simple to exploit via HTTP requests with directory traversal sequences in the 'src' parameter.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Not available

Vendor Advisory: Not available

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Remove the WP Responsive Images plugin completely from your WordPress installation. 2. Delete the plugin files from /wp-content/plugins/wp-responsive-images/. 3. Consider alternative responsive image solutions.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Web Server Path Restriction

linux

Configure web server to block directory traversal attempts in the plugin's endpoint

# For Apache: Add to .htaccess
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\.\.%2F|\.\./) [NC]
RewriteRule ^ - [F]

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Disable or remove the WP Responsive Images plugin immediately
Implement web application firewall rules to block path traversal patterns in requests

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if /wp-content/plugins/wp-responsive-images/ directory exists and contains version 1.0 or earlier files

Check Version:

Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins page or examine /wp-content/plugins/wp-responsive-images/readme.txt

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm the wp-responsive-images directory has been completely removed from /wp-content/plugins/

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

HTTP requests containing '../' or '..%2F' patterns to plugin endpoints
Unusual file access patterns from single IP addresses

Network Indicators:

HTTP GET requests with traversal sequences in query parameters
Requests to /wp-content/plugins/wp-responsive-images/ with 'src' parameter

SIEM Query:

source="web_logs" AND (uri_path="*wp-responsive-images*" AND query="*..%2F*" OR query="*../*")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2026-1557

CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CWE: CWE-22

Published: February 26, 2026

Last Updated: February 27, 2026

🔗 References

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