Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2026-5294

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The Geeky Bot plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in versions up to, and including, 1.2.2. This is due to a nopriv AJAX route allowing attacker-controlled model/function dispatch and reaching a plugin installer helper that downloads and unzips attacker-supplied ZIP files into wp-content/plugins/. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to perform arbitrary plugin installation and achieve remote code execution.

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 Geeky Bot WordPress plugin (versions <=1.2.2) has an unauthenticated AJAX action (nopriv) that accepts attacker-controlled model/function parameters and invokes a plugin installer helper. This helper downloads and extracts malicious ZIP files supplied by the attacker directly into wp-content/plugins/, enabling arbitrary plugin installation and remote code execution.

MitigationImmediately restrict or disable the vulnerable nopriv AJAX route and implement proper capability checks (e.g., manage_options) on all AJAX handlers. Until a patch is available, consider removing or disabling the plugin entirely.

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Confirm Geeky Bot plugin is installed
    List installed WordPress plugins via wp CLI: wp plugin list --allow-root | grep -i geeky, or inspect the filesystem: ls wp-content/plugins/ | grep -i geeky
    Affected if A folder named geeky-bot or similar exists in wp-content/plugins/
  2. Check installed version
    Read the plugin main PHP file header for version: grep -i 'Version:' wp-content/plugins/geeky-bot/*.php, or via wp CLI: wp plugin get geeky-bot --allow-root --field=version
    Affected if Version is 1.2.2 or lower
  3. Identify accessible AJAX endpoints
    Search plugin PHP files for wp_ajax_nopriv_ hooks: grep -r 'wp_ajax_nopriv' wp-content/plugins/geeky-bot/', or inspect AJAX action registrations for actions callable without authentication
    Affected if Any AJAX endpoint is registered with wp_ajax_nopriv and accepts model/function dispatch parameters
  4. Check for plugin installer helper
    Search plugin code for ZIP download and extraction functions: grep -r -E '(zip|extract|download|plugin.*install)' wp-content/plugins/geeky-bot/', looking for code that writes to wp-content/plugins/
    Affected if Plugin contains code that downloads ZIP files and extracts them to the plugins directory

If Geeky Bot plugin versions up to 1.2.2 are installed with a nopriv AJAX endpoint that can trigger the plugin installer helper, the environment is affected by unauthenticated arbitrary plugin installation.

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

Immediately restrict or disable the vulnerable nopriv AJAX route and implement proper capability checks (e.g., manage_options) on all AJAX handlers. Until a patch is available, consider removing or disabling the plugin entirely.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,072.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-5294 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-5294 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