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CVE-2026-57697 – Authentication Bypass via Password Recovery – ProfileGrid WordPress Plugin ≤ 5.9…

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Summary

CVE-2026-57697 is a high-severity Authentication Bypass vulnerability (CWE-288) in the ProfileGrid WordPress plugin by Metagauss, affecting all versions up to and including 5.9.9.6. The flaw resides in the plugin’s password recovery mechanism and allows unauthenticated, remote attackers to bypass authentication controls and exploit the password reset flow to take over arbitrary user accounts. With a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH), the vulnerability carries no attack complexity and requires no privileges or user interaction to exploit.

Technical details

  • Root cause: The plugin’s password recovery flow contains an authentication bypass (CWE-288) that permits an alternate path or channel to be abused. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit weaknesses in how password reset requests are processed or validated, circumventing the intended authentication checks that should protect that flow.
  • Trigger conditions: No prior authentication, no user interaction, and no special configuration required. The attack complexity is low, meaning exploitation is straightforward once the vulnerability is understood.
  • Attack vector: Remote, over the network via HTTP/HTTPS requests to a publicly accessible WordPress site running the vulnerable plugin version.
  • Impact: High integrity impact — a successful attacker can reset the password of any registered user account, including administrator accounts, effectively achieving full account takeover. There is no confidentiality or availability impact per the CVSS scoring.

Affected software

  • ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities (WordPress plugin by Metagauss)
    • All versions from initial release through 5.9.9.6 (inclusive)

Severity

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

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate – patch now: Update ProfileGrid to version 5.9.9.7 or later. The current latest release is 5.9.9.8 (July 7, 2026), available directly from the WordPress plugin repository. Both 5.9.9.7 and 5.9.9.8 include security improvements that address this issue.
  • If immediate patching is not possible:
    • Temporarily disable the ProfileGrid plugin until the update can be applied.
    • Restrict public access to password recovery endpoints at the network or WAF layer.
    • Review recent account activity and audit administrator account passwords as a precautionary measure.

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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