VulnerabilityPublished 13 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-22216: gVectors wpDiscuz · Improper Control of Interaction Frequency

Affects gVectors wpDiscuzSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.9 Medium : upgrade to 7.6.47 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

6.9Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 26% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 7.6.47

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: Low
Vulnerable system availability: Low
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the Vulnerable System are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 30 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade gVectors wpDiscuz to 7.6.47.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
gVectorswpDiscuz	Affected <7.6.47	Fixed in 7.6.47

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-22216, organizations should immediately update wpDiscuz to version 7.6.47 or later once available, as this version addresses the missing rate limiting vulnerability. In the absence of an official patch, administrators should implement custom rate limiting on the wpdAddSubscription endpoint at the web server or application firewall level to restrict the frequency of subscription requests from the same IP address. Input validation should be enhanced to disallow SQL wildcard characters in email subscription requests to prevent mass matching of email addresses. Monitoring and alerting on unusual spikes in subscription activity can help detect exploitation attempts early. Additionally, implementing CAPTCHA or other challenge-response tests on subscription forms can reduce automated abuse. Reviewing email notification policies to limit the volume and frequency of notifications sent to users can mitigate the impact of potential abuse. Finally, educating users to recognize and report unsolicited notifications can aid in early detection and response.

Description

CVE-2026-22216 is a medium severity vulnerability in gVectors wpDiscuz versions before 7.6.47. It involves missing rate limiting on the subscription endpoint, allowing unauthenticated attackers to subscribe arbitrary email addresses to post notifications. Attackers can exploit LIKE wildcard characters in the subscription query to match multiple email addresses, causing unwanted notification emails to be sent to victims. This can lead to spam, user annoyance, and potential email service abuse. No authentication or user interaction is required, and the vulnerability affects the availability and integrity of email notification services. There are no known exploits in the wild yet, but the vulnerability is publicly disclosed. Organizations using vulnerable wpDiscuz versions should apply patches or implement mitigations promptly to prevent abuse. The threat primarily affects websites using wpDiscuz, which is popular in WordPress communities worldwide, especially in countries with high WordPress adoption.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-22216 is the unauthorized subscription of arbitrary email addresses to post notifications, leading to unsolicited emails being sent to victims. This can result in significant user annoyance, potential reputational damage to affected websites, and increased load on email infrastructure, potentially causing denial-of-service conditions for email servers. Organizations may face increased support costs due to user complaints and may suffer from reduced trust if their notification systems are abused. While the vulnerability does not directly lead to data breaches or system compromise, the abuse of notification services can be leveraged as part of broader spam campaigns or social engineering attacks. The lack of authentication and user interaction requirements makes exploitation straightforward and scalable. The impact on confidentiality and integrity is limited but non-negligible due to the manipulation of subscription data and unsolicited information disclosure. Availability impacts arise from potential email service overload. Overall, the threat affects the reliability and trustworthiness of communication channels on affected websites.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 20 Mar 2026, 02:40 UTC

Technical details

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