Summary
CVE-2026-16604 is a sensitive information exposure vulnerability (CWE-200) in the Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content WordPress plugin (slug content-protector) affecting all versions before 4.3.6. The plugin outputs password-protected block content in the public page response before the password is verified, allowing unauthenticated attackers to recover protected content without knowing the password. It is rated High severity with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5.
Technical details
- Root cause: The plugin embeds the password-protected block content in the public page response before validating the supplied password, so the restricted material is present in the response regardless of authentication.
- Trigger conditions: No authentication or user interaction is required; an attacker simply requests the page hosting the protected content.
- Attack vector: Network — the flaw is reachable remotely over HTTP against any public page using the plugin’s content-lock block.
- Impact: Disclosure of password-protected content to unauthenticated users. Confidentiality impact is High; there is no impact to integrity or availability.
Affected software
- Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content (WordPress plugin, slug
content-protector): all versions before 4.3.6.
Severity
- CVSS v3.1 base score: 7.5 (High)
- Vector:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Mitigation and recommended actions
- Immediate: Update the Passster plugin to version 4.3.6 or later, which addresses the issue.
- If no patch can be applied: Restrict or remove reliance on the plugin for protecting sensitive content until the update is installed, and consider placing genuinely sensitive material behind server-side access controls rather than client-visible page content.
How IONIX identifies potentially affected assets
IONIX matches the following signals against data already collected when it crawled the asset; identifying the technology sends no request beyond that crawl.
- Raw HTTP response body:
/wp-content/plugins/content-protector/

