# CVE-2026-97657: Auth bypass in Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce

> Unauthenticated attackers can bypass authentication and take over any user account, including administrators, by exploiting weak encryption and missing ownership checks in cart recovery links.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j8r3-gcq3-h8jj

## What is CVE-2026-97657?

CVE-2026-97657 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Tyche Softwares Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce, published on 14 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass via Malleable Encryption and Bypassable HMAC in all versions up to, and including, 10.8.0. This is due to the use of MAC-free AES-CTR encryption for cart-recovery link tokens — where the 8-byte CTR nonce is carried inside the ciphertext blob and the encryption key is looked up using the attacker-supplied `user_email` GET parameter — combined with an HMAC nonce check in `wcap_email_track_links()` that is only enforced when the `wcap_nonce` parameter is non-empty, allowing complete bypass by omission, and an insecure direct object reference on the decrypted `abandoned_id` with no ownership verification confirming the cart belongs to the email used for decryption. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers who possess a single legitimate cart-recovery link (obtained from their own reminder email) to recover the keystream, forge a ciphertext that decrypts to any victim's cart ID, and trigger a call to `wp_set_auth_cookie()` for the victim user — achieving full account takeover of any user who has ever abandoned a cart, including administrators. The auto-login feature defaults to enabled and is forced on during plugin upgrades, meaning all affected installations are exploitable without any additional configuration.

Weakness: CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97657?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-97657?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-97657 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-97657 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97657 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2026-97657 – Authentication Bypass & Account Takeover | Pocbit (github_poc): https://github.com/murrez/CVE-2026-97657

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-97657 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-97657 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Tyche Softwares Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce, published on 14 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97657 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Tyche Softwares Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97657/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97657/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97657
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97657
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97657

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97657/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.