Summary
CVE-2026-14812 is a maximum-severity (CVSS 10.0) flaw in the Premium SEO WordPress plugin, which ships with an embedded malicious backdoor. The plugin allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker to create a hidden administrator account and, in some builds, to achieve remote code execution, server-side request forgery, and arbitrary front-end content injection — resulting in full site compromise.
Technical details
- Root cause: The plugin itself is malicious, containing an intentional backdoor implemented in
wp-content/plugins/Premium-SEO/seo-automation.php. - Trigger conditions: No authentication is required. An attacker sends crafted unauthenticated HTTP requests to backdoor endpoints — for example an
Action=checkfilesrequest that provisions a hidden administrator account (observed accounts use aresource_desk_*prefix and the email[email protected]). - Attack vector: Network. Additional backdoor behaviors reported across builds include remote code execution via a plugin-file overwrite (
Action=update), SSRF through request parameters, and injection of doorway pages and scripts pulled from external command-and-control hosts (public.imagehosting.space,public1.imagehosting.space). - Impact: Complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability loss — an unauthenticated attacker gains full administrative control of the affected WordPress site.
Affected software
- Premium SEO WordPress plugin builds 6.x, 30, 36, 37, and 38.
Severity
- CVSS v3.1 base score: 10.0 (Critical)
- Vector:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Mitigation and recommended actions
- Immediate: There is no known fixed version. Remove the Premium SEO plugin entirely from any affected WordPress site.
- Remediation: Delete any planted administrator accounts (e.g. those with a
resource_desk_*prefix or the email[email protected]), audit the site for injected doorway pages and malicious head/footer scripts, and block outbound traffic to the identified command-and-control hosts. - If removal is not immediately possible: Restrict network access to the affected site and monitor for the backdoor request patterns and unexpected administrator account creation.

