CVE-2026-80099 Auth bypass in WP Module Data
Unauthenticated attackers can bypass authentication in Newfold WordPress plugins to gain administrator access and take over the site.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-80099?
CVE-2026-80099 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Newfold WP Module Data, published on 9 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Several Newfold plugins are vulnerable to Authentication Bypass. The vulnerability exists because the plugins bundle the wp-module-data module. In the module, the `authenticate()` method — registered on the `rest_authentication_errors` filter and therefore evaluated for every unauthenticated REST API request — performs an HMAC-style Bearer token comparison that degenerates when `HiiveConnection::get_auth_token()` returns `false`: PHP coerces `strrev(false)` to `strrev('')`, collapsing the secret salt to the publicly known constant `hash('sha256', '') = e3b0c44...`, while all remaining hash inputs (HTTP method, request URL, raw request body, and the `X-Timestamp` header) remain fully attacker-controlled. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to compute a valid Bearer token entirely offline, pass the token equality check, and have `wp_set_current_user()` invoked against the first administrator returned by `get_users(['role' => 'administrator'])`, granting full administrator-level access and enabling arbitrary REST API operations such as creating new administrator accounts and achieving complete site takeover. Vulnerable versions are WP Plugin Crazy Domains (<= 2.5.2), WP Plugin Web (<= 2.3.4), WP Plugin Hostgator (<= 3.1.0), WP Plugin Bluehost (<= 4.17.1). The affected module is vulnerable in versions up to, and including, 2.9.4.
Weakness: CWE-287
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-80099?
How do I fix CVE-2026-80099?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-80099 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2026-80099 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-80099 exists.
Public exploit code: 1 Nuclei template and 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-x9jw-34gv-v4x8.