{"cve":"CVE-2026-16149","nvd":{"published":"2026-08-23T00:16:50.233","modified":"2026-10-12T16:10:00.220","status":"Deferred","description":"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.","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","score":8.8},"cwes":["CWE-269"],"references":["https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L107","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L180","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L204","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L428","https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L433"],"products":[],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T22:49:38.260478770+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2026-16149","score":0.00591,"percentile":0.47961,"date":"2026-10-25"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}