CVE-2026-12472
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 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 6.0.11. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to send arbitrary HTML-injected emails — including phishing messages embedding a real, valid WordPress password-reset URL for the targeted user — to any registered user via the site's own mail server, abusing its SPF/DKIM reputation. The attacker-controlled emailSubject parameter is passed to wp_mail() with only sanitize_text_field() applied, while emailBody 'text' items are concatenated raw into the HTML email body with no escaping, and 'chip' items can include the genuine WordPress password-reset link for the targeted account.
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 Kirki plugin for WordPress versions up to 6.0.11 has an unauthenticated authorization bypass that allows attackers to send arbitrary HTML-injected emails to any registered user. The emailSubject parameter receives only sanitize_text_field() while emailBody text items are concatenated raw without escaping, and chip items can inject genuine WordPress password-reset links—enabling sophisticated phishing attacks that appear to come from the site's trusted mail infrastructure.
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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify Kirki plugin is installedCheck the WordPress plugins directory for the kirki folder at wp-content/plugins/kirki/ or view the installed plugins list in the WordPress admin under PluginsAffected if Kirki plugin is present in the WordPress installation
-
Determine installed Kirki versionOpen the main Kirki plugin file (usually kirki.php) and locate the version comment/constant at the top, or check the plugin version displayed in the WordPress admin plugins listAffected if The version number is 6.0.11 or lower
-
Identify the vulnerable email-sending endpointReview the Kirki plugin code for files handling email submission (typically look for files containing 'emailSubject', 'emailBody', or 'send_email' functionality within the kirki/ directoryAffected if The plugin contains an email-sending function accessible without authentication
-
Confirm email functionality is publicly accessibleTest whether the email-sending functionality can be reached without authentication by attempting a POST request to the identified endpoint, or review server access logs for POST requests to Kirki email-related URLsAffected if The endpoint accepts requests from unauthenticated users
-
Check for signs of exploitationReview WordPress email logs, mail server logs, or the wp_posts table for any suspicious emails that may have been sent through the site, or check for unexpected password-reset emails reported by usersAffected if Emails have been sent to users that were not initiated by legitimate administrators
A WordPress site is affected if the Kirki plugin version is 6.0.11 or lower and the plugin's email functionality is accessible without authentication.
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 dataUpdate the Kirki plugin to the latest version when available, and temporarily disable or restrict the email-sending functionality at the server level until a patch is applied.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-12472 — 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-2026-12472 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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