DEV Community

Roman Madaev
Roman Madaev

Posted on

CR4SH3R — Tool for Detecting Vulnerabilities in WordPress Plugins

A couple of months ago, I came across a WordPress site that needed a quick security check for obvious vulnerabilities. It all started with routine work: standard checks, searching for known CVEs, and inspecting popular plugins. But what I found made me think more seriously — critical Arbitrary File Download vulnerabilities in several plugins that allowed access to wp-config.php with just a few requests

This became the reason for creating CR4SH3R — a simple yet powerful tool designed to automate the detection of such vulnerabilities within the WordPress ecosystem

What is it?

CR4SH3R is a GUI utility designed to scan websites for Arbitrary File Download vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins. Its main purpose is to detect paths through which the wp-config.php file can be downloaded, and automatically extract sensitive information from it — such as database login credentials and other important parameters

Screenshots

Pic. 1

Pic. 2

How does it work?

The scanner uses a pre-prepared list of potentially vulnerable URL paths and sends HTTP requests to the target domain. If the server returns the contents of the wp-config.php file, the program parses it and displays only the relevant data. There’s also an option to save results in .xlsx format

Example payload:
/wp-content/plugins/vulnerable-plugin/download.php?file=../../../../wp-config.php

Key Features:

  • Multi-threaded Scanning
    Fast scanning using concurrent request processing. Supports up to 10 simultaneous checks

  • Automatic Data Extraction from wp-config.php
    If the file is found, CR4SH3R automatically extracts values like:
    DB_NAME
    DB_USER
    DB_PASSWORD
    DB_HOST
    table_prefix

  • Excel (.xlsx) Report Generation
    All findings are saved in a structured and easy-to-share format

  • Simple GUI Interface
    Built using PyQt5 for user-friendly interaction

Roadmap:

  • Auto-updater — built-in version checker

  • Config Presets — save and load frequently used scan settings

  • Session History — track previous scans with timestamps and results

  • Encrypted .env File — prevent plaintext exposure when bundled into binaries

Repository Link

https://github.com/m-o-z-z-i-x/CR4SH3R

Top comments (0)