Description

Unauthenticated Broken Access Control in WP Social Avatar <= 1.5 versions.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "6.5",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-13T14:17:06.413Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-13T14:17:06.413Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An unauthenticated broken access control vulnerability has been identified in the WP Social Avatar plugin, specifically affecting versions <= 1.5. This security flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to bypass authorization checks and interact with restricted functionalities or data within the WordPress site.\nThe vulnerability introduces significant risk implications, as unauthorized actors can execute operations intended for privileged users without requiring valid credentials or session validation. The exploitation requirements are minimal due to the lack of authentication enforcement on the vulnerable endpoints, enabling automated exploitation vectors over the network.\nImpacted systems include any WordPress installation running WP Social Avatar version 1.5 or lower. Successful exploitation may lead to unauthorized data exposure, state modification, or further compromise depending on the specific capabilities exposed by the affected access-controlled functions within the plugin.\nOrganizations utilizing the affected software face heightened exposure to unauthorized interactions, potentially disrupting site integrity and user data confidentiality. Remediation requires immediate attention to access control logic enforcement within the plugin architecture.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability stems from an absence of proper access control checks and authentication validation mechanisms within the request handling flow of the WP Social Avatar plugin (versions <= 1.5). Specifically, the vulnerable component fails to verify whether incoming HTTP requests originate from authenticated users or possess the requisite privileges before processing sensitive administrative or user-specific actions.\nFrom an attack flow perspective, an unauthenticated attacker can directly target the exposed endpoints or functions provided by the plugin over the network via standard HTTP requests. Because the application logic lacks requisite capability checks (such as WordPress nonce verification or current_user_can capability evaluations), the request is processed unconditionally.\nThe root cause is rooted in insecure direct object references or missing function-level access control, where sensitive routines are left exposed to the public internet without session validation. Attackers can leverage this by crafting custom HTTP requests directed at the vulnerable plugin handlers, injecting arbitrary payloads or parameters to manipulate the application state.\nAffected versions include WP Social Avatar <= 1.5. The vulnerability requires no authentication and no elevated privileges, drastically lowering the barrier to exploitation. Network exposure is direct, as the vulnerable handlers are accessible via standard web requests to the WordPress installation.\nPost-exploitation impact varies based on the specific routines exposed by the broken access control implementation, potentially allowing unauthorized avatar manipulation, data modification, or interaction with internal plugin workflows. Remediation necessitates the implementation of strict capability checks and nonce validation on all sensitive backend handlers."
}