CVE-2026-27386
Published: 05 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-27386 is a high-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 12.1th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Likely Mitigating ControlsAI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Requiring an access control policy ensures authorization checks are defined and applied for critical functions.
Reviews of access controls detect missing authorization checks on critical functions or resources.
Documenting permitted unauthenticated actions prevents missing authorization by making all exceptions explicit and subject to organizational review.
Requiring attribute association with information prevents authorization from being performed without necessary security or privacy context.
Mandating authorization prior to allowing remote connections addresses missing authorization for remote access.
Mandating authorization before wireless connections are allowed prevents missing authorization for wireless access.
The control requires authorization before allowing mobile device connections, directly mitigating missing authorization for system access.
Requiring approvals for account creation and specifying authorizations ensures authorization is not missing for system access.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Broken access control (CWE-862) in a public-facing WordPress plugin is directly exploitable remotely without authentication (T1190); successful exploitation enables high-integrity unauthorized modifications to stored data (T1565.001).
NVD Description
Missing Authorization vulnerability in designthemes DesignThemes Directory Addon designthemes-directory-addon allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects DesignThemes Directory Addon: from n/a through <= 1.8.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-27386 is a missing authorization vulnerability (CWE-862) in the DesignThemes Directory Addon WordPress plugin (designthemes-directory-addon). It arises from exploiting incorrectly configured access control security levels and affects all versions from n/a through 1.8 inclusive.
The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N), indicating it can be exploited remotely by unauthenticated attackers with low complexity and no user interaction. Successful exploitation enables high-impact integrity violations, such as unauthorized data modifications, while leaving confidentiality and availability unaffected.
The Patchstack advisory (https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/designthemes-directory-addon/vulnerability/wordpress-designthemes-directory-addon-plugin-1-8-broken-access-control-vulnerability?_s_id=cve) documents the broken access control issue in plugin version 1.8 and provides details relevant to mitigation for affected deployments.
Details
- CWE(s)