VulnerabilityDeferred

CVE-2026-15341

The User Session Synchronizer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass leading to Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.0.

CRITICAL 9.8EPSS 0.33%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.33%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

The User Session Synchronizer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass leading to Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.0. The `synchronize_session()` function, hooked on `init` and therefore executed on every request, performs no nonce, capability, or shared-secret validation against the attacker-supplied `ussync-key`, `ussync-token`, and `ussync-ref` parameters; when `ussync-key` references an unregistered slot, `get_option()` returns `false` for both the secret key and the domain list, causing the AES-256-CBC encryption key to degrade to the fully predictable `md5('')` and the referer allowlist to collapse to an empty-string match, while the AES IV is unconditionally hard-coded as `md5('another-secret')`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to supply a crafted request encrypting any known or guessable user email address in the `ussync-ref` parameter, causing the handler to call `wp_set_auth_cookie()` for the matched user and granting full authentication as that user — including administrators — with no prior knowledge of site secrets.

CVSS 3.1: 9.8 CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS: 0.33% probability · 26th percentile
CISA KEV: Not listed
Weakness: CWE-287
Source: security@wordfence.com

References

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.