Wp Maintenance ModeWordPress extension · Designmodo
CVE-2018-20156
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe WP Maintenance Mode plugin before 2.0.7 for WordPress allows remote authenticated "site administrator" users to execute arbitrary PHP code throughout a multisite network.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe WP Maintenance Mode plugin before version 2.0.7 for WordPress contains a vulnerability allowing authenticated site administrators to execute arbitrary PHP code across an entire multisite network. This represents a critical privilege escalation issue where a single compromised site administrator account can compromise all sites within the WordPress multisite installation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Wp Maintenance ModeWordPress extension
< 2.0.7CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify WP Maintenance Mode plugin installationAccess WordPress admin dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, or use WP-CLI command: wp plugin list --status=active --format=jsonAffected if The WP Maintenance Mode plugin appears in the list of installed plugins
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Determine installed plugin versionIn Plugins page, click on the plugin to view details and find the version number, or inspect the main plugin file header in /wp-content/plugins/wp-maintenance-mode/Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 2.0.7 (for example, 2.0.6, 2.0.5, etc.)
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Verify WordPress multisite configurationCheck if the WordPress installation is configured as multisite by accessing Network Admin (or checking wp-config.php for define('MULTISITE', true))Affected if MULTISITE is enabled and the site operates as a WordPress multisite network
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Confirm network-level activationIn multisite, navigate to Network Admin > Plugins and check if WP Maintenance Mode is network-activated (applied to all sites in the network)Affected if The plugin is network-activated and available across all sites in the multisite installation
The environment is affected if the WP Maintenance Mode plugin version is below 2.0.7 AND the site is running as a WordPress multisite installation with the plugin network-activated.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data2.0.7
Upgrade the WP Maintenance Mode plugin to version 2.0.7 or later. In a multisite environment, review all administrator accounts and audit for any unauthorized changes made during the window of vulnerability.
Fix this in Wp Maintenance Mode
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20156 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-20156 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data