Plugin Name	wp-file-get-contents
Type of Vulnerability	SSRF
CVE Number	CVE-2023-6991
Urgency	Low
CVE Publish Date	2026-02-05
Source URL	CVE-2023-6991

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) in JSM file_get_contents() Shortcode — What WordPress Site Owners Must Do Now

On February 5, 2026, a critical vulnerability affecting the WordPress plugin JSM file_get_contents() Shortcode (CVE-2023-6991) was publicly disclosed. Versions prior to 2.7.1 suffer from a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) flaw that can be exploited by users with Contributor-level permissions. While the plugin maintainers patched this vulnerability in version 2.7.1, many sites may still be exposed running outdated versions.

As Managed-WP security experts, we provide an authoritative analysis of this risk, breaking down the technical exposure, real-world consequences, detection and mitigation strategies—including Web Application Firewall (WAF) configurations and incident response guidance. Whether you’re a technical admin or a site owner, this post equips you with actionable steps to secure your WordPress environment now.

Researcher Credit: Dmitrii Ignatyev

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TL;DR: Key Facts

• This SSRF vulnerability affects JSM file_get_contents() Shortcode versions below 2.7.1.
• Exploitation only requires Contributor-level access, which is a low privilege tier in WordPress.
• CVSS Score: 4.9 (Medium severity) – Exploitation complexity is high but practical risk persists in multi-author environments.
• Immediate mitigation: Update to plugin version 2.7.1 or later. If immediate update isn’t feasible, implement temporary protective measures like disabling the plugin, removing vulnerable shortcodes, tightening Contributor permissions, and applying WAF rules to block internal IP requests.
• Managed-WP offers managed WAF rule enforcement and egress filtering to protect your site while you patch.

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Why This Vulnerability Is Serious: Understanding SSRF

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) occurs when a vulnerable application enables an attacker to make the server perform HTTP requests to arbitrary resources. Unlike classic remote request flaws that affect the client, SSRF enables an attacker to leverage the server’s network privileges, potentially bypassing firewall rules or accessing sensitive internal services.

This vulnerability allows attackers to:

• Access internal-only APIs, databases, or admin panels unreachable from the public internet.
• Query cloud infrastructure metadata services to extract secrets or identity tokens.
• Enumerate and fingerprint internal hosts and services on your network.
• Probe internal caches, mail relays, or management consoles invisible externally.
• Conduct information leak attacks by observing responses relayed through the compromised server.

The heart of the issue is the plugin’s use of PHP’s file_get_contents() function to fetch URLs supplied via the shortcode, operated with insufficient validation. Since Contributors can inject shortcode content, they can trigger arbitrary requests from your server — a major security risk.

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Attack Scenario — How Malicious Actors Exploit This Flaw

1. An attacker creates or hijacks a Contributor-level account on your WordPress site.
2. They embed the vulnerable shortcode in content and set the URL attribute to malicious or internal addresses such as:
   • http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/ (Cloud metadata endpoint)
   • http://127.0.0.1:5984/_stats (Local CouchDB instance)
   • http://10.0.0.5:8000/admin (Internal admin panel)
3. When the content is rendered, either during preview, publication, or scheduled tasks, the plugin fetches the specified URL server-side.
4. The server processes the request and may leak sensitive internal information back to the attacker or aid reconnaissance.
5. Repeated exploitation can lead to discovery of critical services and potentially credential theft.

Note that although Contributor accounts often cannot publish directly, editorial workflows or other plugins might allow unsafe content previewing, increasing exposure. The high complexity rating reflects some environmental hurdles, but with low privilege requirements this threat remains real.

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Confirmed Vulnerability Details

• Plugin: JSM file_get_contents() Shortcode
• Affected Versions: < 2.7.1
• Fixed In: 2.7.1
• CVE ID: CVE-2023-6991
• Researcher: Dmitrii Ignatyev
• Risk Category: SSRF (OWASP Top 10, A10)
• CVSS v3.1 Score: 4.9 (Medium)

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Critical Immediate Actions for Site Owners and Administrators

1. Upgrade Plugin — Update to version 2.7.1 or later without delay. Automate updates where possible to reduce exposure.
2. If Immediate Update Is Not Possible:
   • Deactivate the vulnerable plugin temporarily.
   • Search content for shortcodes referencing file_get_contents and remove or sanitize them.
   • Review and tighten Contributor role permissions — temporarily remove suspicious users if necessary.
3. Monitor — Check your web server and application logs for outbound requests targeting internal IP addresses or cloud metadata endpoints around times of content creation or preview.
4. Deploy WAF Protections — Enforce rules blocking requests with private/internal IPs or suspicious shortcode patterns in inputs.
5. Enforce Network Egress Controls — Implement firewall rules to prevent your web server and PHP processes from initiating outbound connections to RFC1918 networks and cloud metadata IPs (169.254.169.254).

Also consider enabling automatic updates for plugins from trusted sources to improve your overall security posture.

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Detecting Exploitation: Signs Your Site May Be Targeted

• Outbound HTTP(S) requests from your server logs to internal or cloud metadata addresses.
• Unexpected shortcode occurrences referencing file_get_contents in posts or drafts.
• Saw suspicious activity in WP Cron jobs triggering fetches from internal IPs.
• Errors or anomalies in your web server (Apache/nginx) or PHP-FPM logs during content operations.
• Presence of new or modified posts/drafts from Contributor accounts containing external URL shortcodes.
• Alerts or logs showing blocked or flagged outbound traffic at the host firewall or WAF level.

Example WordPress database search queries:

• SELECT ID, post_title FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%file_get_contents%';
• SELECT ID, post_title FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content RLIKE '\\[(jsm|file_get_contents|file).*\\]';

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Incident Response Checklist

1. Isolation: Temporarily take the site offline or enable maintenance mode upon signs of active exploitation. Deactivate the vulnerable plugin while preserving logs.
2. Preserve Evidence: Create full backups and export logs, database dumps for forensic analysis.
3. Patch: Update the plugin to version 2.7.1 or later immediately.
4. Hunt Malicious Artifacts: Search for injected posts, web shells, scheduled tasks, or suspicious modified files and remove them.
5. Rotate Credentials: Replace API keys, database passwords, and cloud access tokens if compromise is suspected.
6. Harden Network and Application: Add egress filtering, strengthen WAF rules, and disable unsafe PHP functions like allow_url_fopen if unrequired.
7. Restore: If necessary, restore from a clean backup before the compromise.
8. Monitor: Increase logging and monitoring of outbound HTTP calls for at least 30 days post-incident.
9. Improve Processes: Review editorial workflows, user privileges, and plugin management policies to reduce future risk.

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Developer Guidance: Secure Coding Practices to Prevent SSRF

For plugin maintainers and developers, this vulnerability highlights the need for stringent validation on URLs fetched dynamically.

1. Input Validation: Use filter_var($url, FILTER_VALIDATE_URL) to verify URL structure.
2. Scheme Enforcement: Allow only http and https schemes; block others (e.g., file://, ftp://).
3. Host Resolution and IP Filtering: Resolve hostnames and block requests to private IP ranges such as RFC1918, loopback, link-local, and IPv6 equivalents.
4. Domain Whitelisting: Restrict allowed domains if feasible, limiting to trusted endpoints.
5. Safe HTTP Clients: Prefer cURL with strict timeout and redirection limits. Disable automatic following of redirects.
6. Sanitize Output: Treat fetched content as untrusted and sanitize before rendering.

Example (pseudo-PHP):

function safe_fetch($url) {
    if (!filter_var($url, FILTER_VALIDATE_URL)) {
        return false;
    }
    $parsed = parse_url($url);
    if (!in_array($parsed['scheme'], ['http', 'https'])) {
        return false;
    }
    $host = $parsed['host'];
    $ips = dns_get_record($host, DNS_A + DNS_AAAA);
    foreach ($ips as $rec) {
        $ip = $rec['ip'] ?? $rec['ipv6'] ?? null;
        if ($ip && ip_in_private_range($ip)) {
            return false;
        }
    }
    $ch = curl_init($url);
    curl_setopt_array($ch, [
        CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
        CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => false,
        CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 3,
        CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 6,
    ]);
    $resp = curl_exec($ch);
    curl_close($ch);
    return $resp;
}

Note: ip_in_private_range() is a helper function to check against reserved IP blocks.

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Recommended WAF Rules to Deploy Immediately

Implement a Web Application Firewall to catch exploitation attempts with these rule strategies:

1. Block Private/Internal IPs in Request Parameters:
   • Detect and deny any parameter containing IPs in these ranges: 127.0.0.0/8, 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16, 169.254.169.254, and IPv6 equivalents.
2. Block Metadata API Requests:
   • Block requests aiming at 169.254.169.254 or /.well-known/openid-configuration endpoints.
3. Inspect and Block Suspicious Shortcode Patterns:
   • Identify request bodies or parameters containing shortcode patterns like [.*file_get_contents.*] or [.*jsm.*file.*].
   • Use regex example: /\[.*?(file_get_contents|jsm_file_get_contents|jsm).*?\]/i
4. Limit Outbound HTTP Traffic:
   • At the host firewall level, restrict outgoing connections to only necessary IPs and ports; block attempts to connect internal or metadata IPs.

Example ModSecurity Rule Snippet:

# Block attempts to fetch internal IPs via user-supplied parameters
SecRule REQUEST_HEADERS:Content-Type "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
    "phase:2,chain,deny,id:900101,msg:'SSRF attempt - private IP in parameters',log"
SecRule ARGS|ARGS_NAMES "@rx (127\.0\.0\.1|169\.254\.169\.254|10\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+|172\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-1])\.\d+\.\d+|192\.168\.\d+\.\d+)" \
    "t:none,t:urlDecode"

Metadata Request Block Example:

SecRule ARGS|ARGS_NAMES|REQUEST_BODY "@rx 169\.254\.169\.254" "phase:2,deny,id:900102,msg:'Blocked potential metadata SSRF',log"

If using Managed-WP’s managed WAF service, ask for these targeted SSRF and shortcode inspection rules to be applied until patches are deployed.

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Network and Server Hardening Recommendations

• Implement egress filtering at network/firewall level to block outbound requests from web servers to private IP space and metadata addresses.
• Run PHP worker processes under less privileged users and consider restricting network capabilities via Linux security modules or seccomp.
• Disable allow_url_fopen in php.ini if your environment does not require it, to reduce risk from insecure URL fetches.
• Enforce application allowlists for outbound HTTP/S connections restricted to known trusted domains.
• On cloud platforms, enable metadata service protections like IMDSv2 to mitigate unauthorized access.
• Deploy logging of outbound connections for monitoring and forensic analysis.

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Practical Checklist for Site Owners

1. Verify the plugin version; update to 2.7.1 or newer immediately if outdated.
2. If update is not feasible immediately:
   • Deactivate the plugin.
   • Search your content and remove any vulnerable shortcodes.
   • Restrict Contributor capabilities during the interim.
3. Deploy WAF rules blocking SSRF vectors.
4. Implement network egress control to block internal and metadata IPs.
5. Review logs for suspicious outbound requests and content creations.
6. Conduct malware and compromise scans.
7. Create comprehensive backups and preserve logs if breach suspected.

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Sample Commands & Database Queries for Investigation

WordPress Database (MySQL):

• SELECT ID, post_title FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%file_get_contents%';
• SELECT ID, post_title FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content RLIKE '\\[(jsm|file_get_contents|file).*\\]';

Web Server Log Analysis (nginx example):

• grep -E '169\.254\.169\.254|127\.0\.0\.1|10\.|172\.' /var/log/nginx/access.log

Outbound Connections Monitoring (Linux):

• ss -tunp | grep php-fpm
• tcpdump -n -i any dst net 169.254.0.0/16 or dst net 10.0.0.0/8 or dst net 192.168.0.0/16

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Importance of Plugin Security and Role Management

This incident underscores two critical security principles for WordPress administrators:

1. Any plugin fetching external resources must implement rigorous validation to prevent SSRF and related attacks.
2. User roles and editorial workflows must be carefully controlled to prevent abuse through low-privilege accounts.

Always consider plugins and user content injection points as possible attack vectors. Use editorial reviews and sandboxing mechanisms to mitigate risks from untrusted inputs that can trigger network interactions.

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How Managed-WP Secures Your Site While You Patch

Managed-WP delivers comprehensive security for WordPress sites with a layered approach:

• Managed Web Application Firewall rules tuned continuously to detect and block SSRF and other exploit techniques.
• Inspection of shortcodes and content payloads to flag risky constructs before rendering.
• Egress-aware protections preventing unauthorized server-initiated HTTP requests.
• Continuous malware scanning and integrity monitoring.
• Role-based security policies and update notifications.

If you are not yet utilizing managed WAF, now is the time to strengthen your defenses with Managed-WP services that extend beyond basic hosting protections.

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Practical ModSecurity and Nginx Examples

ModSecurity sample to block SSRF patterns:

# Block private IP references in parameters or body
SecRule REQUEST_HEADERS:Content-Type ".*(application/x-www-form-urlencoded|multipart/form-data).*" \
    "phase:2,block,id:1001001,msg:'Prevent SSRF - private IP in parameters',log,ctl:ruleRemoveById=920350"
SecRule ARGS|REQUEST_BODY "@rx (127\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+|169\.254\.169\.254|10\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+|192\.168\.\d+\.\d+|172\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-1])\.\d+\.\d+|file://|ftp://)" \
 "t:none,t:urlDecode,phase:2,block,msg:'SSRF pattern blocked',id:1001002,log"

Nginx pseudo-configuration to block requests referencing metadata:

# Conceptual Lua or request inspection example
if ($request_body ~* "169\.254\.169\.254") {
    return 403;
}

Note: Test all rules carefully on staging servers to minimize false positives before production deployment.

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Long-Term Security Recommendations

• Regularly inventory and remove unused or unmaintained plugins.
• Enforce secure coding standards, including validation of all externally fetched resources.
• Restrict user roles using the principle of least privilege.
• Deploy automated security and plugin update management.
• Monitor outbound traffic anomalies and aggregate logs for analysis.
• Perform regular backups and test restoration processes.

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Non-Technical Guide for Website Owners

1. Log into your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate “JSM file_get_contents() Shortcode.”
3. If an update is available, click “Update Now” or ask your host/administrator to apply the update.
4. If uncertain or unable to update, deactivate the plugin to temporarily eliminate the vulnerability.
5. Contact your hosting provider or security service explaining you want to check for SSRF-related activity and enforce protections.
6. For multisite operators, check and patch all sites accordingly.

Consider engaging a managed security provider or technical specialist if you need assistance.

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Protect Your Site While You Patch: Managed-WP Basic Plan Option

Fortify Your Site Today with Free Managed Protection

While you take the necessary time to apply patching, the Managed-WP Basic Plan (Free) offers critical defenses including:

• Managed WAF rules rapidly updated to counter emerging SSRF and other plugin vulnerabilities.
• Unlimited bandwidth to avoid inspection bottlenecks.
• Automated malware scanning and limited mitigation capabilities.
• Targeted protections for OWASP Top 10 risks, including SSRF and internal IP detection.

Sign up for Managed-WP Basic plan and start protecting your site now: https://my.wp-firewall.com/buy/wp-firewall-free-plan/

For advanced features like automatic malware removal, virtual patching, and dedicated security management, tiered upgrades are available.

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Final Thoughts — Patch Promptly, Protect Continuously

CVE-2023-6991 highlights that SSRF vulnerabilities continue to threaten WordPress environments. The most effective defense is immediate patching to plugin version 2.7.1 or newer, coupled with secure development practices to avoid arbitrary resource fetching.

Given the realities of multi-site management and testing cycles, layered security approaches are essential: deploy WAFs, lock down outbound network traffic, harden user roles, and monitor continuously. Managed-WP’s Basic plan provides immediate managed firewall coverage at no cost to help bridge the gap.

For expert assistance with incident response, virtual patching, or rule tuning, contact Managed-WP via your dashboard or enroll in the Basic protection plan.

Stay vigilant and prioritize plugin security to prevent subtle yet damaging SSRF exploitation that could extend beyond simple website defacement.

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