Ithemes SecurityWordPress extension · Ithemes
CVE-2020-36176
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 iThemes Security (formerly Better WP Security) plugin before 7.7.0 for WordPress does not enforce a new-password requirement for an existing account until the second login occurs.
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 iThemes Security plugin before version 7.7.0 fails to properly enforce mandatory password changes for existing user accounts. When a password change is required for an account (e.g., after admin enforcement or password expiration), the system does not force the user to set a new password until their second login attempt, creating an authentication bypass window where the account can access the system without complying with the password policy.
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
Ithemes SecurityWordPress extension
< 7.7.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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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Verify iThemes Security plugin is installedIn WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'iThemes Security' or 'Better WP Security'. Alternatively, check the wp-content/plugins/ folder for itsec or ithemes-security directory.Affected if iThemes Security plugin is present on the WordPress site
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Check installed iThemes Security versionIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and find the version number listed under iThemes Security. Or check the main plugin file (e.g., itsec.php or class-itsec-main.php) for the 'Version' header in the plugin comments.Affected if Version is lower than 7.7.0 (e.g., 7.6.0, 7.5.0, etc.)
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Determine if mandatory password change feature is in useIn WordPress admin, go to Security > User Security (or Settings > Security) and look for options related to 'Force Password Change', 'Password Expiration', or 'Require New Password'. Check if any user accounts have password change requirements by viewing user profiles or querying the wp_usermeta table for meta_key 'itsec_force_password_change'.Affected if Mandatory password change is enforced for any user accounts AND the plugin version is below 7.7.0
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Inspect authentication behavior for accounts requiring password changesLog in with a user account that has a pending password change requirement. Verify whether the system grants full access without prompting for a new password on the first login attempt. Check server logs for any auth-related events.Affected if User can access the WordPress dashboard without being forced to set a new password on the first login after a password change was required
A site is affected if it runs iThemes Security plugin version below 7.7.0 AND has mandatory password change enforcement enabled for at least one user account.
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 data7.7.0
Update iThemes Security plugin to version 7.7.0 or later to obtain the patched code that properly enforces new-password requirements on the first login.
Fix this in Ithemes Security
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-36176 — 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-2020-36176 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