CVE-2026-9179
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 WP Forms Connector plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to SQL Injection via the 'order' parameter of the /wp-json/wp/v3/post/list REST endpoint in versions up to and including 1.8. This is due to insufficient escaping on the user-supplied 'order' parameter (read directly from $_GET['order'] into $shorting) and the lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query in the listPost() function, where the value is concatenated unquoted into the ORDER BY clause and executed via $wpdb->get_results() without $wpdb->prepare(). The endpoint is registered with permission_callback '__return_true' and performs only a broken header-based check that validates the supplied 'Username' corresponds to an administrator account while never verifying the 'Password'. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database.
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 WP Forms Connector plugin for WordPress (versions up to 1.8) contains an unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability in the /wp-json/wp/v3/post/list REST endpoint. The 'order' parameter is read directly from $_GET into the $shorting variable without proper escaping or parameterization, then concatenated unquoted into the ORDER BY clause of a query executed via $wpdb->get_results() without $wpdb->prepare(). The endpoint is registered with permission_callback '__return_true' and uses a broken authentication mechanism that validates the Username header but never verifies the Password, allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious SQL queries.
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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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.
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Check if WP Forms Connector plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and look for 'WP Forms Connector', or check the plugin directory /wp-content/plugins/ for a folder named 'wpforms-connector' or similarAffected if The plugin is installed and active, and the version is 1.8 or lower
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Verify the REST endpoint is accessibleSend a GET request to /wp-json/wp/v3/post/list without authentication headersAffected if The endpoint returns a response (HTTP 200) rather than a 401/403 error, indicating the permission_callback is set to '__return_true'
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Confirm the plugin versionCheck the plugin's main PHP file for the version defined in the plugin header comment, or view the plugin details in WordPress admin Plugins listAffected if The installed version is 1.8 or any version up to 1.8
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Test the vulnerable 'order' parameterSend a request to /wp-json/wp/v3/post/list?order=id (baseline) then /wp-json/wp/v3/post/list?order=id DESC SLEEP(5) and compare response timesAffected if The SLEEP(5) query causes a measurable delay in response time, confirming SQL injection is possible
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Inspect the authentication bypassSend a request with any arbitrary Username header (e.g., -H 'Username: attacker') and observe the endpoint still processes the request without requiring a valid Password headerAffected if The endpoint accepts requests with only a Username header and processes them without verifying Password credentials
If the WP Forms Connector plugin versions up to 1.8 is installed and the /wp-json/wp/v3/post/list REST endpoint is accessible without authentication, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2026-9179.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpdate to the latest version of WP Forms Connector plugin (if available) or remove the plugin until a patch is released. The fix requires implementing proper input validation, using $wpdb->prepare() for the ORDER BY clause, and correcting the broken authentication logic in the REST endpoint.
Latest version available on wordpress.org (version 1.9 or higher)
- Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
- Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- Locate the 'WP Forms Connector' plugin
- Click 'Update now' if an update is available, or manually download the latest version from wordpress.org
- After updating, verify the new version number reflects the latest release
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-9179 — 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-2026-9179 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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- 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
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