Description
The Pressengine WordPress plugin through 1.0 does not stop its login handler from issuing a session when authentication fails, allowing unauthenticated attackers to log in as any user, including administrators.
Published: 2026-09-17
Score: 9.8 Critical
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: Authentication Bypass / Privilege Escalation
Action: Patch Immediately
AI Analysis

Impact

The Pressengine WordPress plugin through version 1.0 fails to terminate a session when authentication fails, allowing attackers to obtain a valid session as any user, including administrators. This blind authentication bypass grants full control over the WordPress installation and enables complete compromise of site data and configuration. The weakness aligns with CWE-287.

Affected Systems

WordPress sites installing the Pressengine plugin up to and including version 1.0 are affected. The vendor is listed as Unknown: The Pressengine, and any deployment of this plugin on a server running WordPress is vulnerable.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 9.8 classifies this as critical, indicating a high likelihood of severe impact if exploited. EPSS is under 1 %, suggesting a low exploitation probability at present. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog. Attackers would most likely exploit this via the plugin’s authentication endpoint over the web, submitting crafted credentials to trigger the session creation even on login failure. No additional prerequisites are noted beyond web access to the affected site.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on September 18, 2026 at 01:52 UTC.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Upgrade the Pressengine plugin to a version that correctly stops session creation on failed authentication.
  • Ensure all WordPress core files, themes, and other plugins are updated to their latest secure releases.
  • Restrict access to the plugin’s administrative URLs using firewall rules or .htaccess directives until a definitive patch is available.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on September 18, 2026 at 01:52 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-287
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 06:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description The Pressengine WordPress plugin through 1.0 does not stop its login handler from issuing a session when authentication fails, allowing unauthenticated attackers to log in as any user, including administrators.
Title The Pressengine <= 1.0 - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass
References

Subscriptions

No data.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: WPScan

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-17T12:29:43.881Z

Reserved: 2026-09-08T10:56:48.895Z

Link: CVE-2026-86709

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-09-17T12:12:47.389Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Deferred

Published: 2026-09-17T06:16:51.327

Modified: 2026-09-18T19:08:32.830

Link: CVE-2026-86709

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-09-18T02:00:16Z

Weaknesses