# CVE-2021-24644: Images to WebP - Local File Inclusion

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2021-24644 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2021-24644

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Limited Exploitation. The vulnerability is known but shows very limited attacker interest or exploitation activity.
- **CVSS score:** 7.5
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** Images to WebP
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'))
- **Tags:** wordpress

## Description

The Images to WebP WordPress plugin before 1.9 does not validate or sanitise the tab parameter before passing it to the include() function, which could lead to a Local File Inclusion issue

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2021-24644](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2021-24644) is a vulnerability in the Images to WebP WordPress plugin prior to version 1.9, where improper validation of the tab parameter can lead to a Local File Inclusion (LFI) issue. This flaw allows remote attackers to potentially access sensitive files on the server, posing a significant risk to the confidentiality of the affected WordPress site.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 24th of September 2025.

CrowdSec has not observed any significant exploitation activity targeting CVE-2021-24644 across its network. As a result, no community-driven trend analysis is available for this vulnerability at this time.

Attackers exploit the plugin by sending requests to `/wp-admin/upload.php` with the `page=images-to-webp.php` parameter and a `tab` parameter containing directory traversal sequences (e.g., `../../../../wp-links-opml`) to include arbitrary local files.

## Timeline

- 2021-11-23: CVE Published. CVE-2021-24644 is published to NVD.
- 2025-09-24: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2021-24644 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2026-08-19: CrowdSec First Seen. CrowdSec observes in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2021-24644 for the first time.

## References

- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/5a363eeb-9510-4535-97e2-9dfd3b10d511
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-24644.yaml

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2021-24644) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2021-24644. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.