AUGUST 26, 2026
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Case File

CVE-2026-8499

MEDIUM · CVSS 5.3 EPSS 0.27%

Source: NVD + CISA KEV + EPSS (historical backfill) · Published 2026-06-09 · Last synced 2026-08-04

CyberRota Analysis

This is a medium severity vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.3. It affects WordPress. Exploitation may require the attacker to be authenticated.

CVE
CVE-2026-8499
Severity
MEDIUM
CVSS
5.3
EPSS
0.27%
WordPress

Original NVD Description

The Helpfulcrowd Product Reviews plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authorization Bypass via PHP Type Juggling in versions up to, and including, 1.2.9. This is due to the `helpfulcrowd_validate_token()` function using a loose comparison operator (`!=`) instead of a strict comparison (`!==`) when validating the `token` parameter, while the corresponding REST route `/wp-json/helpfulcrowd/v1/update-settings` is registered with a `permission_callback` of `__return_true`, making it reachable by unauthenticated users; submitting a JSON boolean `true` as the `token` value causes PHP's loose comparison to evaluate as equal to the non-empty base64-encoded secret string, bypassing the check entirely. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to invoke `helpfulcrowd_settings_endpoint()` and write arbitrary attacker-controlled key-value pairs directly into the `helpfulcrowd_options` WordPress database option via `update_option()` without any sanitization or allowlist filtering, enabling full unauthenticated modification of the plugin's stored configuration.