Administrator takeover via empty-token signature validation
Published Sep 9, 2026 · Updated Sep 9, 2026
Improper authentication in affected Newfold WordPress plugins allows remote attackers to gain administrator access through forged REST requests. The wp-module-data authenticate method hashes an empty stored Hiive token into a known salt and compares it with a signature built from attacker-controlled request fields. Sites without a stored connection token accept the forged Bearer value, set the first administrator as the current user, and expose privileged REST operations.
Summary
What happened
Improper authentication in affected Newfold WordPress plugins allows remote attackers to gain administrator access through forged REST requests. The wp-module-data authenticate method hashes an empty stored Hiive token into a known salt and compares it with a signature built from attacker-controlled request fields. Sites without a stored connection token accept the forged Bearer value, set the first administrator as the current user, and expose privileged REST operations.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-80099
- Published
- Sep 9, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 9, 2026
- Vendor
- Newfold Digital
- Product
- WP Module Data
- Classifications
- CWE-287, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 9, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=0 <=2.9.7
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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