Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2026-27386

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Missing Authorization vulnerability in designthemes DesignThemes Directory Addon designthemes-directory-addon allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects DesignThemes Directory Addon: from n/a through <= 1.8.

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 confidence

This is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the DesignThemes Directory Addon WordPress plugin (versions through 1.8). The issue allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, likely enabling unauthenticated users to access functionality or data that should require proper authorization checks.

MitigationImplement proper authorization checks on all sensitive functions and endpoints within the plugin, ensuring role-based access control (RBAC) is correctly enforced. If a patched version is available, upgrade immediately.

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify plugin installation and version
    Check the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) for a directory related to 'designthemes' or 'directory-addon'. Open the main plugin PHP file and look for the version number in the plugin header comment, or check the readme.txt file for the 'Stable tag' entry.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and the version is 1.8 or lower (including any version number below 1.8).
  2. Identify plugin endpoints and AJAX actions
    Search the plugin directory for action hooks (add_action) that register AJAX endpoints or front-end submission handlers. Look for files containing 'wp_ajax' or 'wp_ajax_nopriv' to identify publicly accessible functions.
    Affected if The plugin registers AJAX actions with 'wp_ajax_nopriv' hooks or exposes submission endpoints that do not verify user capabilities.
  3. Review capability checks on sensitive functions
    Examine the plugin PHP files for current_user_can(), wp_get_current_user(), or other authorization checks before executing sensitive operations such as data creation, modification, or deletion.
    Affected if Sensitive functions lack proper current_user_can() verification or rely solely on nonces without verifying user roles.
  4. Test unauthorized access to admin functions
    If the plugin provides front-end forms for directory submissions, submit requests without authenticating or without appropriate WordPress capabilities to verify if the submission is processed.
    Affected if Unauthenticated or low-privilege users can successfully submit, modify, or delete directory entries that should require higher privileges.

The environment is affected if the DesignThemes Directory Addon plugin (version 1.8 or lower) is installed and exposes administrative or data-modifying functions that can be accessed by unauthenticated users or users lacking proper capabilities.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper authorization checks on all sensitive functions and endpoints within the plugin, ensuring role-based access control (RBAC) is correctly enforced. If a patched version is available, upgrade immediately.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,180
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2026-27386 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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