CVE-2026-1729
Published: 12 February 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-1729 is a critical-severity Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306) vulnerability in Themeforest (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 43.3th 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 IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-1729 is an authentication bypass vulnerability in the AdForest theme for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 6.0.12. The flaw occurs because the theme fails to properly verify a user's identity prior to authenticating them through the 'sb_login_user_with_otp_fun' function, as documented in the CVE description published on 2026-02-12. This issue is classified under CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Function) and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation allows attackers to log in as arbitrary users, including administrators, potentially granting full control over the affected WordPress site.
Mitigation details are available in related advisories, including the Wordfence threat intelligence report at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/34fd42cb-3868-4b1c-bc56-575faf01e8f3?source=cve and the AdForest theme listing on ThemeForest at https://themeforest.net/item/adforest-classified-wordpress-theme/19481695.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-7023
Vulnerability details
The AdForest theme for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in all versions up to, and including, 6.0.12. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying a user's identity prior to authenticating them through the 'sb_login_user_with_otp_fun' function. This makes…
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it possible for unauthenticated attackers to log in as arbitrary users, including administrators.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The vulnerability is an authentication bypass in a public-facing WordPress theme, directly enabling exploitation of a public-facing application for unauthorized access.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires systems to uniquely identify and authenticate users prior to access, directly preventing the authentication bypass vulnerability in the sb_login_user_with_otp_fun function.
Mandates timely identification, reporting, and correction of system flaws like CVE-2026-1729, preventing exploitation through patching the vulnerable AdForest theme.
Enforces approved authorizations for logical access in accordance with access control policies, mitigating unauthorized login as arbitrary users including administrators.