WordPress CVE-2026-87902: Critical RCE Vulnerability Exploited Within Hours
Within hours of WordPress releasing patches for CVE-2026-87902 on September 22, 2026, threat actors began actively exploiting this critical remote code execution vulnerability affecting WordPress sites. The flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to include arbitrary PHP files and achieve RCE when specific preconditions are met, including the presence of page- directories in active themes and readable PHP files like pearcmd.php. Security researchers observed 68 exploitation attempts originating from multiple countries, with attackers deploying web shells and writing malicious PHP files to compromised systems. This incident exemplifies the increasingly rapid weaponization of disclosed vulnerabilities, with attackers now exploiting critical flaws within the same day of patch releases. The WordPress ecosystem's massive attack surface combined with automated exploit frameworks enables threat actors to achieve widespread reconnaissance and compromise attempts at unprecedented speed.
Kill Chain
