CVE-2026-110002: Critical WordPress Plugin Flaws (CVSS 9.8) — Detection and Remediation Guide for Arbitrary File Upload and Auth Bypass

/wp-content/plugins/snazzy-social-media-feed/save-to-cache.php

---
title: HTTP Request to Vulnerable Snazzy Social Media Feed save-to-cache.php
id: 3b7a1f92-6c4d-4e8a-b2f1-9d5c7e0a1234
status: experimental
description: Detects direct HTTP requests to the standalone save-to-cache.php script in the Snazzy Social Media Feed WordPress plugin, the attack vector for CVE-2026-110002 arbitrary file upload. Any request to this endpoint is suspicious because the script bypasses WordPress bootstrap and is not invoked through normal plugin operation by external clients.
references:
  - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-110002
author: Security Arsenal
date: 2026/04/06
tags:
  - attack.initial_access
  - attack.t1190
logsource:
  category: webserver
detection:
  selection:
    cs-uri-stem|contains:
      - '/wp-content/plugins/snazzy-social-media-feed/save-to-cache.php'
      - '/snazzy-social-media-feed/save-to-cache.php'
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate plugin cron-initiated requests from localhost (filter src IP to loopback/server IP)
level: critical
---
title: PHP File Written to WordPress Uploads or Plugin Directory
id: 8e2c4d61-1a5b-4f39-9c7e-2b8d6f1a4567
status: experimental
description: Detects creation of PHP files inside wp-content/uploads or plugin directories on a WordPress host. Legitimate WordPress operation never writes .php files into uploads; this is a hallmark indicator of webshell deployment following arbitrary file upload exploitation such as CVE-2026-110002.
references:
  - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-110002
author: Security Arsenal
date: 2026/04/06
tags:
  - attack.persistence
  - attack.t1505.003
logsource:
  category: file_event
  product: linux
detection:
  selection:
    TargetFilename|contains:
      - '/wp-content/uploads/'
      - '/wp-content/plugins/snazzy-social-media-feed/'
    TargetFilename|endswith:
      - '.php'
      - '.phtml'
      - '.phar'
      - '.php5'
      - '.php7'
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Plugin updates writing files under the plugin directory (correlate with wp-cli or admin-initiated update windows; uploads/ has virtually no legitimate PHP writes)
level: high
---
title: Web Server Process Spawning Shell on Linux WordPress Host
id: 5f1d9e37-8b2c-4a6d-b4e8-7c3a9f2b6789
status: experimental
description: Detects the web server or PHP-FPM process spawning an interactive shell or common post-exploitation tooling, consistent with webshell execution after exploitation of WordPress plugin file upload vulnerabilities including CVE-2026-110002.
references:
  - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-110002
author: Security Arsenal
date: 2026/04/06
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1059.004
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: linux
detection:
  selection_parent:
    ParentImage|endswith:
      - '/apache2'
      - '/httpd'
      - '/nginx'
      - '/php-fpm'
      - '/php-cgi'
  selection_child:
    Image|endswith:
      - '/sh'
      - '/bash'
      - '/dash'
      - '/zsh'
      - '/curl'
      - '/wget'
      - '/python'
      - '/python3'
      - '/perl'
      - '/nc'
      - '/ncat'
      - '/netcat'
  condition: selection_parent and selection_child
falsepositives:
  - Rare legitimate plugin functionality invoking system tools (image processing, backups); investigate parent-child chains before whitelisting
level: critical

// Hunt 1: Requests to vulnerable standalone script and PHP execution from uploads
let lookback = 7d;
let VulnPaths = dynamic(['save-to-cache.php', 'snazzy-social-media-feed']);
union isfuzzy=true
(CommonSecurityLog
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(lookback)
 | where RequestURL has_any (VulnPaths)
    or (RequestURL has '/wp-content/uploads/' and RequestURL has_any ('.php', '.phtml', '.phar'))
 | project TimeGenerated, SourceIP, DestinationHostName, RequestURL, RequestMethod, HttpUserAgentOriginal, DeviceAction
 | extend TableSource = 'CommonSecurityLog'),
(Syslog
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(lookback)
 | where SyslogMessage has_any (VulnPaths)
    or (SyslogMessage has '/wp-content/uploads/' and SyslogMessage has '.php')
 | project TimeGenerated, HostIP, Computer, SyslogMessage, SeverityLevel
 | extend TableSource = 'Syslog')
| summarize RequestCount = count(), FirstSeen = min(TimeGenerated), LastSeen = max(TimeGenerated) by TableSource, SourceIP, RequestURL, bin(TimeGenerated, 1h)
| order by LastSeen desc;

// Hunt 2: Web server spawning shells on MDE-onboarded Linux hosts
DeviceProcessEvents
| where TimeGenerated > ago(lookback)
| where InitiatingProcessFileName has_any ('apache2', 'httpd', 'nginx', 'php-fpm', 'php-cgi')
| where FileName has_any ('sh', 'bash', 'dash', 'curl', 'wget', 'nc', 'ncat', 'python3', 'perl')
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine,
          FileName, ProcessCommandLine, AccountName, RemoteIP, ReportId
| order by TimeGenerated desc;

-- Sweep WordPress hosts for webshell indicators: PHP in uploads, recent plugin-dir writes
LET upload_paths = glob(glob='/var/www/*/wp-content/uploads/**/*.php')
  + glob(glob='/var/www/*/wp-content/uploads/**/*.phtml')
  + glob(glob='/srv/www/*/wp-content/uploads/**/*.php')
  + glob(glob='/home/*/public_html/wp-content/uploads/**/*.php')

LET plugin_files = glob(glob='/var/www/*/wp-content/plugins/snazzy-social-media-feed/**/*.php')
  + glob(glob='/home/*/public_html/wp-content/plugins/snazzy-social-media-feed/**/*.php')

SELECT FullPath,
       Size,
       Mtime,
       Ctime,
       CASE
         WHEN FullPath =~ 'wp-content/uploads' THEN 'PHP_IN_UPLOADS_HIGH_SEVERITY'
         ELSE 'PLUGIN_DIR_FILE_REVIEW'
       END AS Verdict
FROM foreach(row=upload_paths + plugin_files)
WHERE Mtime > (now() - 60 * 60 * 24 * 14)   -- modified in last 14 days
ORDER BY Mtime DESC

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Security Arsenal - CVE-2026-110002 / WordPress plugin triage & hardening
# Run as root or with sudo. Test in staging first.
set -uo pipefail

WP_ROOTS=$(find /var/www /srv/www /home -maxdepth 4 -name wp-config.php -printf '%h\n' 2>/dev/null | sort -u)
QUAR=/root/quarantine-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)
mkdir -p "$QUAR"

for ROOT in $WP_ROOTS; do
  echo "=== Processing $ROOT ==="

  # 1. Inventory vulnerable plugins and versions
  for PD in "$ROOT"/wp-content/plugins/*/; do
    PNAME=$(basename "$PD")
    case "$PNAME" in
      snazzy-social-media-feed|*abandoned-cart*)
        VER=$(grep -m1 -i 'Version:' "$PD"*.php 2>/dev/null | head -1 | awk '{print $NF}')
        echo "[!] VULNERABLE PLUGIN FOUND: $PNAME version $VER at $PD"
        # Disable via WP-CLI if available, else rename the directory
        if command -v wp >/dev/null 2>&1; then
          sudo -u www-data wp plugin deactivate "$PNAME" --path="$ROOT" 2>/dev/null \
            && echo "[+] Deactivated $PNAME via WP-CLI"
        fi
        mv "$PD" "$QUAR/$PNAME" && echo "[+] Quarantined plugin directory to $QUAR/$PNAME"
        ;;
    esac
  done

  # 2. Hunt for PHP files planted in uploads (webshell sweep)
  echo "[*] Scanning uploads for PHP webshells..."
  find "$ROOT/wp-content/uploads" -type f \( -name '*.php' -o -name '*.phtml' -o -name '*.phar' -o -name '*.php5' \) \
    -mtime -30 -print 2>/dev/null | while read -r SHELL_FILE; do
      echo "[!] Suspicious PHP in uploads: $SHELL_FILE"
      cp --parents "$SHELL_FILE" "$QUAR" && rm -f "$SHELL_FILE" && echo "[+] Quarantined: $SHELL_FILE"
  done

  # 3. Harden uploads against PHP execution (Apache .htaccess)
  HT="$ROOT/wp-content/uploads/.htaccess"
  if [ ! -f "$HT" ]; then
    cat > "$HT" <<'EOF'
<FilesMatch "\.(php|phtml|phar|php[0-9])$">
  Require all denied
</FilesMatch>
EOF
    echo "[+] Wrote PHP execution block: $HT"
  fi
done

# 4. Pull recent access-log hits to the vulnerable script for scoping
echo "[*] Checking access logs for exploitation attempts..."
grep -hE 'save-to-cache\.php|snazzy-social-media-feed' \
  /var/log/apache2/access*.log* /var/log/nginx/access*.log* /var/log/httpd/access*.log* 2>/dev/null \
  | grep -E 'POST|PUT' | tail -50 > "$QUAR/exploit-attempts.log"
[ -s "$QUAR/exploit-attempts.log" ] \
  && echo "[!] POSSIBLE EXPLOITATION ATTEMPTS logged to $QUAR/exploit-attempts.log — investigate POST bodies and source IPs" \
  || echo "[+] No direct hits to save-to-cache.php found in available logs"

echo "=== Triage complete. Evidence staged in $QUAR ==="