Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-66047

Access Control

Published
31 August 2026
Modified
08 September 2026
CVSS Score v4 9.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0054 44th percentile
Risk Priority 37 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-66047 is a critical-severity Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306) vulnerability in Profilepress (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.2 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Brute Force (T1110); ranked at the 44th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

ProfilePress (wp-user-avatar) WordPress plugin before 4.17.2 contains an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to install and activate arbitrary plugins by brute-forcing a weak 32-bit connect token via the ppress_connect_process AJAX handler. Attackers can supply a caller-controlled…

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URL through the file request parameter to trigger silent plugin installation and activation, achieving PHP code execution as the web-server user.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
Adversaries may use brute force techniques to gain access to accounts when passwords are unknown or when password hashes are obtained.
T1133 External Remote Services Persistence
Adversaries may leverage external-facing remote services to initially access and/or persist within a network.
T1185 Browser Session Hijacking Collection
Adversaries may take advantage of security vulnerabilities and inherent functionality in browser software to change content, modify user-behaviors, and intercept information as part of various browser session hijacking techniques.
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.
T1558 Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to subvert Kerberos authentication by stealing or forging Kerberos tickets to enable [Pass the Ticket](https://attack.
T1563 Remote Service Session Hijacking Lateral Movement
Adversaries may take control of preexisting sessions with remote services to move laterally in an environment.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-15574Shared CWE-330
CVE-2024-4185Shared CWE-330
CVE-2025-13353Shared CWE-330
CVE-2023-34353Shared CWE-330
CVE-2023-6799Shared CWE-330
CVE-2023-32831Shared CWE-330
CVE-2024-28013Shared CWE-330
CVE-2024-21460Shared CWE-330
CVE-2026-40306Shared CWE-330
CVE-2024-50684Shared CWE-330

Affected Assets

Profilepress
—
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 14 hardening rules · 5 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.3
  • V6.4.4
  • V10.4.16
  • V12.1.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Directly mandates unique identification and authentication of users before access to functions requiring identity.

Extends the same authentication requirement to non-organizational users accessing critical functionality.

Requires authentication of services before they can invoke or expose critical functions.

Explicitly identifies and limits actions permitted without authentication, preventing critical functions from being exposed.

SC-12 requires proper cryptographic key establishment and management, which structurally mandates use of sufficient randomness for key generation.

Access enforcement requires prior authentication before any authorization decision for critical functions.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.

PR.AA-03 partial match
prevents

Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.

PR.AA-05 partial match
prevents

Defining and enforcing authorizations assumes prior authentication and therefore only partially mitigates the absence of authentication.

PR.IR-01 partial match
prevents

Protecting networks from unauthorized access can be undermined by missing authentication but does not address the root authentication gap.

PR.PS-06 partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly enforce use of cryptographically strong RNGs and catch insufficient randomness during design, coding, and testing.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

Mandating authentication requirements for critical functions at the requirements-gathering stage ensures that essential operations are not left unprotected by missing login or verification mechanisms.

mitigates

Mandating authentication for network services and critical functions stops attackers from invoking sensitive operations without credentials, closing gaps where authentication is absent for important capabilities.

prevents

Cryptographic controls require use of approved, sufficiently random values for keys and nonces.

prevents

Secure SDLC processes include verification steps that can catch insufficient randomness but do not directly specify RNG requirements.

prevents

Security engineering principles insist on authentication and authorization for every critical function, eliminating entry points that lack any access control mechanism.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly prohibit use of weak or predictable random number generators.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (5 rules)
  • V-248563 The OL 8 SSH server must be configured to use strong entropy. prevents CWE-330
  • V-248599 OL 8 must enable the hardware random number generator entropy gatherer service. prevents CWE-330
  • V-248585 OL 8 must require reauthentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271511 OL 9 must enable the hardware random number generator entropy gatherer service. prevents CWE-330
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
  • V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
  • V-237635 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must require re-authentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
RHEL 8 (5 rules)
  • V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
  • V-244527 RHEL 8 must have the packages required to use the hardware random number generator entropy gatherer service. prevents CWE-330
  • V-230253 RHEL 8 must ensure the SSH server uses strong entropy. prevents CWE-330
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257782 RHEL 9 must enable the hardware random number generator entropy gatherer service. prevents CWE-330

References