dbcve.org
VulnerabilityAwaiting classification

CVE-2026-12270

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click 7 weeks old

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 · unedited
The Everest Forms WordPress plugin before 3.5.0 does not correctly restrict access to several REST API endpoints belonging to its onboarding assistant: the capability check is only applied when an attacker-controllable request header holds a specific value, so it can be bypassed by omitting or changing that header. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to read onboarding status information, modify the related Everest Forms WordPress plugin before 3.5.0 options, and trigger an email from the site to an arbitrary address.

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 confidence

The Everest Forms WordPress plugin before 3.5.0 has a broken access control vulnerability in its onboarding assistant REST API endpoints. The plugin only applies capability checks when a specific attacker-controllable request header contains a particular value, allowing unauthenticated attackers to bypass authentication by omitting or modifying this header. This enables unauthorized read access to onboarding status, modification of plugin options, and arbitrary email triggering.

MitigationUpdate Everest Forms plugin to version 3.5.0 or later, which implements proper capability checks on all onboarding REST API endpoints regardless of request headers.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS 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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Everest Forms plugin installation
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and locate Everest Forms, or check the plugin version via WP CLI: wp plugin list --name='everest-forms'
    Affected if Everest Forms plugin is installed and version is below 3.5.0
  2. Confirm plugin version number
    View the installed plugin file header or use: grep -i 'Version:' wp-content/plugins/everest-forms/everest-forms.php | head -1
    Affected if Version string is lower than 3.5.0 (e.g., 3.4.x, 3.3.x, etc.)
  3. Verify onboarding REST API endpoints exist
    Check for REST API route registration in the plugin: grep -r 'register_rest_route' wp-content/plugins/everest-forms/ | grep -i 'onboard'
    Affected if Onboarding REST routes are registered in the plugin
  4. Test header-based access control bypass
    Send a GET request to the onboarding status endpoint (e.g., /wp-json/everest-forms/v1/onboarding/status) with and without the specific header that triggers capability checks; compare responses
    Affected if Unauthenticated requests without the specific header return sensitive onboarding data or success responses that should require authentication
  5. Check for unauthorized option modifications
    Send a POST request to onboarding-related option-setting endpoints without authentication, testing both with and without the header that enables checks
    Affected if Requests without the header succeed in modifying plugin options or triggering emails when they should require authentication

A user is affected if the Everest Forms plugin version is below 3.5.0 AND the onboarding REST API endpoints are accessible without proper authentication when the specific header is omitted or modified.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update Everest Forms plugin to version 3.5.0 or later, which implements proper capability checks on all onboarding REST API endpoints regardless of request headers.

Recommended fix High confidence

Everest Forms 3.5.0 or later

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate Everest Forms in the plugin list
  4. Check the current version number to confirm it is below 3.5.0
  5. Click 'Update now' if an update is available, or manually download Everest Forms 3.5.0 or later from wordpress.org and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  6. After update completes, verify the new version is 3.5.0 or higher under Plugins > Installed Plugins

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-12270 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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