CVE-2026-24587
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 · uneditedMissing Authorization vulnerability in kutsy AJAX Hits Counter + Popular Posts Widget ajax-hits-counter allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects AJAX Hits Counter + Popular Posts Widget: from n/a through <= 0.10.210305.
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 · moderate confidenceMissing Authorization (Broken Access Control) vulnerability in the WordPress plugin 'AJAX Hits Counter + Popular Posts Widget' allows low-privilege or unauthenticated users to access functionality or data that should require higher privileges. The vulnerability stems from incorrectly configured access control security levels on one or more AJAX endpoints within the plugin, likely missing capability checks or nonce validation.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
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 the plugin versionIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > AJAX Hits Counter + Popular Posts Widget and note the version number. Alternatively, inspect the main plugin PHP file (typically in wp-content/plugins/ajax-hits-counter/) for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block.Affected if The installed version lacks the security fix for CVE-2026-24587 (compare to the latest patched version when available)
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Locate AJAX endpoint registrationsSearch the plugin directory for hooks containing 'wp_ajax_' or 'wp_ajax_nopriv_' - these register the AJAX handlers. Use grep or a text editor to search PHP files for these patterns.Affected if The plugin registers AJAX endpoints accessible to unauthenticated users (wp_ajax_nopriv_ hooks)
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Examine AJAX handler authorizationOpen each PHP file containing AJAX handler functions (identified in step 2) and verify whether each handler function includes current_user_can() or similar capability checks at the beginning.Affected if AJAX handler functions lack capability checks or nonce validation before executing privileged operations
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Test unauthorized AJAX accessMake a direct HTTP POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with an action parameter matching one of the plugin's AJAX actions (such as 'ahc_update_hits' or similar), without providing authentication credentials.Affected if The request executes successfully or returns data that should require authentication
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Review nonce implementationSearch the plugin code for wp_verify_nonce(), check_ajax_referer(), or wp_nonce_field() calls within AJAX handler functions.Affected if AJAX endpoints do not verify nonces before processing requests
If the plugin has unauthenticated-accessible AJAX endpoints (wp_ajax_nopriv_ hooks) that lack capability checks and nonce validation, the environment is affected by this broken access control vulnerability.
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 to the latest version of the plugin when available, or implement proper authorization checks (capability checks and nonce validation) on all AJAX handlers and public-facing functions. If no patch exists, consider removing the plugin until a fix is released.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-24587 — 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-2026-24587 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