WordPress Issues Critical Security Update 7.1.2 Five Days After Previous Patch

WordPress has released version 7.1.2 to fix a new critical vulnerability that was not addressed in the 7.1.1 update issued just five days earlier. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-87902, is a path traversal issue rated Critical that can be exploited without authentication. It resides in the page template resolution process and allows execution of arbitrary local PHP files located outside the theme directory, provided certain conditions such as the presence of a page- prefixed directory in the parent or child theme are met. The update was published on September 22, 2026, and affects the prior release from September 17. Administrators are urged to apply the patch immediately to prevent potential remote code execution.

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WordPress has issued a new security release, WordPress 7.1.2, to address a critical vulnerability discovered shortly after the previous update.

The flaw, identified as CVE-2026-87902, is a path traversal vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary local PHP files. It affects the page template reference resolution process and can target any readable PHP file outside the theme directory when specific conditions are present, such as a directory beginning with the string "page-" at the top level of the parent or child theme.

Development teams rated the issue Critical, the highest severity level. The vulnerability was disclosed on September 22, 2026, and impacts the security release WordPress 7.1.1 published only five days earlier on September 17.

Site administrators are strongly advised to update immediately to the latest version to mitigate the risk of remote code execution.

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