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CVE-2026-15413 – Backdoor / Full Site Takeover – Link Factory WordPress Plugin (All Versions)

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Summary

CVE-2026-15413 affects the Link Factory WordPress plugin, which is not a legitimate SEO tool but a backdoor disguised as a "homepage sentence publisher." It exposes a hidden REST API that lets a remote operator fully and persistently compromise a site independent of any WordPress administrator credentials. The vulnerability is rated CRITICAL with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 10.0.

Technical details

  • Root cause: the plugin ships hidden functionality (CWE-912) — a REST API namespace at /wp-json/link-factory/v1/ that accepts remote operator commands.
  • Access to privileged operations is gated by an Ed25519 signature check validated against a hardcoded key embedded in the plugin, rather than any WordPress authentication or capability check.
  • An unauthenticated health-check endpoint is exposed without signature validation, allowing remote fingerprinting of the plugin’s presence.
  • Signed requests to a POST /users endpoint create a hidden administrator account with a randomly generated lf_-prefixed login and return its credentials to the operator.
  • A POST /articles endpoint allows publishing arbitrary posts attributed to a site administrator; a POST /sentences endpoint injects hidden HTML/links into footer content for black-hat SEO purposes.
  • Attack vector is network-based, requires no privileges and no user interaction, and results in full loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected site.

Affected software

  • Link Factory WordPress plugin — all published versions.

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: no patch is available, because the plugin itself is malicious rather than vulnerable code in an otherwise-legitimate product. Remove and uninstall the Link Factory plugin from all WordPress sites immediately.
  • Audit the site for hidden administrator accounts with lf_-prefixed usernames and remove any found.
  • Review published posts and footer content for unauthorized articles or injected links, and rotate all administrator credentials and secret keys as a precaution.
  • Restrict or monitor outbound/inbound access to /wp-json/link-factory/v1/ at the network/WAF layer until the plugin is fully removed.

References

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