WordPress Security Audit Checklist for Production Sites
A WordPress security audit checklist should produce clear remediation actions, not a long report nobody executes. Use this guide to review core, plugins, themes.
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The Piotnet Addons for Elementor Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file upload due to missing file type validation in the 'pafe_ajax_form_builder' function in all versions up to, and including, 7.1.70. The plugin uses an incomplete extension blacklist that only blocks php, phpt, php5, php7, and exe extensions, while allowing dangerous extensions such as .phar or .phtml to be uploaded. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to upload arbitrary files on the affected site's server which may make remote code execution possible. Note: The exploit can only be exploited if a file field is added to the form.
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
The Piotnet Forms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file upload due to missing file type validation in the 'piotnetforms_ajax_form_builder' function in all versions up to, and including, 2.1.40. The plugin uses an incomplete extension blacklist that only blocks php, phpt, php5, php7, and exe extensions, while allowing dangerous extensions such as .phar or .phtml to be uploaded. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to upload arbitrary files on the affected site's server which may make remote code execution possible. Note: The exploit can only be exploited if a file field is added to the form.
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
The Contest Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to SQL Injection via the 'form_input' parameter in versions up to, and including, 28.1.6. This is due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query inside the unauthenticated 'post_cg_gallery_form_upload' AJAX action (specifically the 'cb' branch of the included users-upload-check.php, where $f_input_id is concatenated unquoted into 'SELECT Field_Content FROM ... WHERE id = $f_input_id'). The endpoint is gated only by a public frontend nonce ('cg1l_action' / 'cg_nonce') that is exposed in the page source of any public gallery page. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database.
Update to version 28.1.7, or a newer patched version
The AI Engine – The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in version 3.4.9. This is due to missing WordPress capability enforcement in the MCP OAuth bearer-token authorization path, where any valid OAuth token causes MCP access to be granted without verifying administrator privileges. This makes it possible for authenticated (Subscriber+) attackers to invoke admin-level MCP tools and escalate privileges to Administrator.
Update to version 3.5.0, or a newer patched version
The Essential Chat Support plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.1. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to reset all plugin configuration settings — including general settings, display rules, custom CSS, and WooCommerce tab settings — to their defaults by sending a POST request with ecs_reset_settings=1.
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
The Multicollab: Content Team Collaboration and Editorial Workflow plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the 'cf_add_comment' function in all versions up to, and including, 5.2. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to add comments to arbitrary collaborations.
Update to version 5.3, or a newer patched version
The Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory Plugin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access in all versions up to, and including, 5.3.10. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to add arbitrary notes to any order and trigger unsolicited notification and moderation emails to listing owners without administrative authorization.
Update to version 5.4.0, or a newer patched version
The Frontend Admin by DynamiApps plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in versions up to and including 3.28.36. This is due to insufficient authorization checks in the role field update mechanism combined with overly permissive capabilities for the admin_form post type. The admin_form custom post type uses 'capability_type' => 'page', which grants editors the ability to create and edit forms. When an editor creates an edit_user form, they can manipulate the form configuration to include 'administrator' in the role_options array by directly submitting POST data to wp-admin/post.php, bypassing the UI restrictions in feadmin_get_user_roles(). When the form is subsequently submitted, the pre_update_value() function in class-role.php only validates that the submitted role exists in the form's role_options array (lines 107-110), but fails to verify that the current user has permission to assign that specific role. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to first register as editors (via a public new_user form), then create an edit_user form with administrator in the allowed roles, and finally use that form to escalate their own privileges to administrator.
Update to version 3.29.1, or a newer patched version
The Quick Playground plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Path Traversal in versions up to and including 1.3.3. This is due to insufficient path validation in the qckply_zip_theme() function, which appends a user-controlled 'stylesheet' parameter directly to the theme root directory path without sanitizing directory traversal sequences. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to trigger the creation of a ZIP archive containing arbitrary files from the server's filesystem — including wp-config.
Update to version 1.3.4, or a newer patched version
The Form Notify plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass in versions up to and including 1.1.10. This is due to the plugin trusting user-controlled cookie data to determine which WordPress account to authenticate after a LINE OAuth login. When LINE doesn't provide an email address (which is common), the plugin falls back to reading the 'form_notify_line_email' cookie value without verifying that the LINE account is associated with that email address. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to gain access to any user account on the site, including administrator accounts, by completing a LINE OAuth flow with their own LINE account while injecting a malicious cookie containing the target victim's email address.
Update to version 1.1.11, or a newer patched version
Use hub pages to review all indexed records for a single WordPress plugin or theme instead of scanning the global feed one advisory at a time.
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