VulnerabilityPublished 11 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-3906: WordPress · Missing Authorization

Affects WordPressSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, 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: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
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 on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 11 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
WordPress FoundationWordPress	Affected >=6.9 <=6.9.1	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-3906, organizations should upgrade WordPress to a version where this vulnerability is patched once available. Until a patch is released, administrators can implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Restrict user registrations and carefully vet Subscriber-level accounts to minimize potential attackers. 2) Disable or restrict the Notes feature if not essential, either by disabling related REST API endpoints or using plugin-based access control. 3) Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block unauthorized note creation attempts via the REST API. 4) Monitor logs for unusual note creation activity, especially from Subscriber accounts. 5) Implement strict role and capability management to ensure minimal privileges are assigned. 6) Educate editorial teams to verify notes and annotations for authenticity. These targeted mitigations go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling access to the vulnerable feature and monitoring for exploitation attempts.

Description

WordPress core is vulnerable to unauthorized access in versions 6.9 through 6.9.1. The Notes feature (block-level collaboration annotations) was introduced in WordPress 6.9 to allow editorial comments directly on posts in the block editor. However, the REST API `create_item_permissions_check()` method in the comments controller did not verify that the authenticated user has `edit_post` permission on the target post when creating a note. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access to create notes on any post, including posts authored by other users, private posts, and posts in any status.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-3906 is the unauthorized creation of editorial notes on WordPress posts by users with minimal privileges (Subscribers). This can lead to integrity issues where unauthorized annotations may mislead editors or readers, potentially causing editorial confusion or misinformation. Although the vulnerability does not allow content reading beyond existing permissions or site disruption, the ability to add unauthorized notes can undermine trust in collaborative editorial workflows. For organizations relying on WordPress for content management, especially those using the Notes feature for editorial collaboration, this could degrade content quality and editorial control. Attackers could exploit this to insert misleading comments or manipulate editorial processes. Since the vulnerability affects WordPress core, a widely used CMS globally, the potential impact spans many sectors including media, education, government, and commerce. However, the requirement for authenticated access limits exploitation to registered users, reducing risk from anonymous attackers but increasing risk from insider threats or compromised accounts.

CWE-862Missing Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #4OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Exploitation of Thunderbolt Protection Flaws (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 11 Mar 2026, 09:59 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-862

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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