{"id":"CVE-2026-16149","aliases":[],"url":"https://o3.security/vulnerability/CVE-2026-16149","summary":"The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.4. The vulnerability exists because the plugin's user-enumeration…","details":"The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.4. The vulnerability exists because the plugin's user-enumeration protection, which is enabled by default, hooks the rest_endpoints filter via secure_user_endpoints() and overwrites every registered handler's permission_callback on both the /wp/v2/users and /wp/v2/users/(?P<id>[\\d]+) routes — including POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE handlers — with a bare closure that returns only is_user_logged_in(), completely stripping WordPress Core's original capability checks such as create_users, promote_user, edit_users, and delete_users that WP_REST_Users_Controller normally enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to create new Administrator accounts by sending POST request to /wp/v2/users with administrator role, or to reset an existing Administrator's password by issuing a PUT/POST request to /wp/v2/users/<id>. Because the block_user_enum option defaults to enabled, no special plugin configuration is required — the overwrite is active on every request as soon as the plugin is installed.","published":"2026-08-23T00:16:50.233","modified":"2026-08-23T00:16:50.233","cvss":{"score":8.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"epss":null,"cisaKev":null,"exploitsKnown":null,"affectedPackages":[],"fix":null,"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L107"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L180"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L204"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L428"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L433"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L439"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3630896/security-hardener"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/64f1a71f-e210-4191-bfb4-56f8568180ed?source=cve"}],"provenance":{"sources":["OSV.dev","NVD","FIRST.org (EPSS)"],"lastVerified":"2026-08-23T00:16:50.233"}}