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CVE-2026-40767 – Unauthenticated Broken Access Control / Private Post Disclosure – WordPress wpFo…

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Summary

CVE-2026-40767 is a high-severity Unauthenticated Broken Access Control vulnerability in the WordPress wpForo Forum plugin, affecting all versions prior to 3.0.2. The flaw allows any unauthenticated remote attacker to access private or access-restricted forum posts through the plugin’s RecentPosts widget, bypassing the permission controls that are intended to protect non-public content. With a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 (HIGH) and no authentication or user interaction required, this vulnerability poses a direct risk of sensitive information disclosure on any internet-exposed WordPress site running an affected version of wpForo Forum.

Technical details

  • Root cause: The RecentPosts widget in wpForo Forum failed to enforce the plugin’s forum access control checks before returning post data, allowing content restricted by usergroup or forum permissions to be retrieved without authentication (CWE-281: Improper Preservation of Permissions).
  • Trigger conditions: No authentication, no special privileges, and no user interaction are required. An attacker simply needs network access to the target WordPress site.
  • Attack vector: Fully remote, over the network (AV:N/AC:L). The widget is rendered as part of the publicly accessible WordPress front-end, making it reachable via standard HTTP/HTTPS requests.
  • Impact: High confidentiality impact — private forum posts (e.g., posts in members-only, private, or moderated forums) can be read by any unauthenticated visitor. There is no impact to integrity or availability.

Affected software

  • WordPress wpForo Forum Plugin — all versions prior to 3.0.2
    • Includes all 3.0.x versions: 3.0.0 and 3.0.1
    • Includes all prior major versions (2.x and earlier)

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 7.5 (HIGH)
  • Vector String: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate action — patch: Update wpForo Forum to version 3.0.2 or later. The fix was introduced in version 3.0.2 (released April 8, 2026), which explicitly addresses this issue by enforcing proper access checks in the RecentPosts widget. The current latest release is 3.1.1.
  • If immediate patching is not possible:
    • Disable or remove the wpForo RecentPosts widget from all active widget areas and page templates as a temporary mitigation.
    • Restrict public access to the WordPress front-end using network-layer controls (e.g., firewall rules or IP allowlisting) if the site is not intended to be publicly accessible.
    • Review forum access configurations to minimize the amount of sensitive content stored in restricted forum areas on publicly accessible instances.

IONIX Status

The IONIX research team is tracking ongoing exploitation attempts and recommends immediate patching. Potentially affected assets are outlined in this post.

References

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