Vulnerability · Published Sep 9, 2026 · Assigned by Wordfence
CVE-2026-80099Various Newfold Plugins Various Versions - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass via Bearer Token Validation with Empty Secret
High 8.8
In plain English
A high-severity improper authentication in WP Module Data from Newfold. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 2.9% (higher than 87% of all known vulnerabilities). Ready-made attack tooling exists: Nuclei, public proof-of-concept code.
Official description
Several Newfold plugins are vulnerable to Authentication Bypass. The vulnerability exists because the plugins bundle the wp-module-data module. In the module, the `authenticate()` method — registered on the `rest_authentication_errors` filter and therefore evaluated for every unauthenticated REST API request — performs an HMAC-style Bearer token comparison that degenerates when `HiiveConnection::get_auth_token()` returns `false`: PHP coerces `strrev(false)` to `strrev('')`, collapsing the secret salt to the publicly known constant `hash('sha256', '') = e3b0c44...`, while all remaining hash inputs (HTTP method, request URL, raw request body, and the `X-Timestamp` header) remain fully attacker-controlled. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to compute a valid Bearer token entirely offline, pass the token equality check, and have `wp_set_current_user()` invoked against the first administrator returned by `get_users(['role' => 'administrator'])`, granting full administrator-level access and enabling arbitrary REST API operations such as creating new administrator accounts and achieving complete site takeover. Vulnerable versions are WP Plugin Crazy Domains (<= 2.5.2), WP Plugin Web (<= 2.3.4), WP Plugin Hostgator (<= 3.1.0), WP Plugin Bluehost (<= 4.17.1). The affected module is vulnerable in versions up to, and including, 2.9.4.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Newfold | WP Plugin Web | 0 – through 2.3.5 |
| Newfold | WP Plugin Crazy Domains | 0 – through 2.5.2 |
| Newfold | WP Module Data | 0 – through 2.9.7 |
| Newfold | WP Plugin Hostgator | 0 – through 3.2.0 |
| Newfold | WP Plugin Bluehost | 0 – through 4.19.0 |
Weakness: CWE-287 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3ee369c0-0d7c-4142-b3ba-a518288647ba?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-module-data/trunk/includes/Data.php#L222
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-module-data/trunk/includes/Data.php#L201
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-module-data/trunk/includes/Data.php#L191
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-module-data/trunk/includes/HiiveConnection.php#L406
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-module-data/trunk/includes/Data.php#L69
- https://github.com/newfold-labs/wp-module-data/commit/9d913fd8fa12796c4d9c09081e4aeccfa5cb1301
- https://github.com/newfold-labs/wp-plugin-hostgator/compare/3.2.0...3.2.1
- https://github.com/newfold-labs/wp-plugin-bluehost/compare/4.19.0...4.19.1
- https://github.com/newfold-labs/wp-plugin-web/compare/2.3.5...2.3.6
- https://github.com/newfold-labs/wp-plugin-crazy-domains/compare/2.5.2...2.5.3