CVE-2026-1720

High

Published: 05 March 2026

Published

05 March 2026

Modified

22 April 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0005 14.7th percentile

Risk Priority 18 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2026-1720 is a high-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Wordpress (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 14.7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) and 1 other technique. What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

prevent

Enforces approved authorizations to block unauthorized access to the install_and_active_plugin function lacking capability checks.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match

prevent

Applies least privilege to restrict subscriber-level users from performing high-privilege actions like arbitrary plugin installation.

CM-11 User-installed Software good match

prevent

Establishes and enforces policies to control and monitor user-installed software, preventing unauthorized plugin activations.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

attack.mitre.org →

T1505.003 Web Shell Persistence

Adversaries may backdoor web servers with web shells to establish persistent access to systems.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

Missing authorization on plugin install function in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables remote exploitation (T1190) and arbitrary backdoor/web shell installation (T1505.003).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

NVD Description

The WowOptin: Next-Gen Popup Maker – Create Stunning Popups and Optins for Lead Generation plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized arbitrary plugin installation due to a missing capability check on the 'install_and_active_plugin' function in all versions up to, and…

including, 1.4.24. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to install and activate arbitrary plugins.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2026-1720 affects the WowOptin: Next-Gen Popup Maker – Create Stunning Popups and Optins for Lead Generation plugin for WordPress, specifically due to a missing capability check on the 'install_and_active_plugin' function in all versions up to and including 1.4.24. This vulnerability, published on 2026-03-05, enables unauthorized arbitrary plugin installation and has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), mapped to CWE-862 (Missing Authorization).

Authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or higher can exploit this remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation allows them to install and activate arbitrary plugins, potentially granting full site compromise through backdoor installation, privilege escalation, or further malicious actions, with high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Wordfence advisories and WordPress plugin trac references detail mitigation, including a patch in changeset 3456826 addressing the issue in includes/utils/class-notice.php at line 848; security practitioners should update to a version beyond 1.4.24 and review access controls for low-privilege users.