Unauthenticated account takeover via inconsistent email normalization
Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026
Improper email normalization in Nexcess GiveWP 4.16.6 through 4.16.8 allows remote attackers to take over donor-linked WordPress accounts. Donor email storage and subsequent donor lookup apply inconsistent normalization, so an attacker-supplied address can resolve to an arbitrary donor. No authentication is required, and a successful request can replace the password of any linked WordPress user, including an administrator.
Summary
What happened
Improper email normalization in Nexcess GiveWP 4.16.6 through 4.16.8 allows remote attackers to take over donor-linked WordPress accounts. Donor email storage and subsequent donor lookup apply inconsistent normalization, so an attacker-supplied address can resolve to an arbitrary donor. No authentication is required, and a successful request can replace the password of any linked WordPress user, including an administrator.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-85530
- Published
- Sep 16, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Vendor
- Nexcess
- Product
- GiveWP
- Classifications
- T1098
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 16, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=4.16.6 <4.16.8.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo