Acymailing An Ultimate Newsletter Plugin And Marketing Automation Solution For Wordpress
CVE-2026-3614
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EUVD-2026-23188
HIGH
Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
5DescriptionCVE.org
The AcyMailing plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in all versions From 9.11.0 up to, and including, 10.8.1 due to a missing capability check on the wp_ajax_acymailing_router AJAX handler. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to access admin-only controllers (including configuration management), enable the autologin feature, create a malicious newsletter subscriber with an injected cms_id pointing to any WordPress user, and then use the autologin URL to authenticate as that user, including administrators.
AnalysisAI
Privilege escalation in AcyMailing WordPress plugin (versions 9.11.0-10.8.1) allows authenticated Subscriber-level users to gain administrator access through a multi-stage attack chain. Attackers exploit a missing capability check in the wp_ajax_acymailing_router AJAX handler to access admin-only configuration controllers, enable autologin features, inject malicious cms_id values into newsletter subscribers, and authenticate as any WordPress user including administrators. EPSS data not available; no confirmed active exploitation (CISA KEV absent), but the low attack complexity (AC:L) and detailed public code references increase exploitation risk for installations with subscriber registration enabled.
Technical ContextAI
The vulnerability stems from CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) in the AcyMailing plugin's AJAX router implementation. The wp_ajax_acymailing_router handler in WpInit/Router.php (lines 11, 122, 230 across versions 10.7.1-10.8.1) fails to validate user capabilities before routing requests to backend controllers. WordPress AJAX handlers registered with wp_ajax_ hooks execute for authenticated users, but the plugin does not verify whether the authenticated user has administrative privileges before allowing access to sensitive operations in back/Core/AcymController.php. The autologin feature-intended for newsletter click tracking-generates authentication tokens tied to WordPress users via cms_id fields. By combining unauthorized configuration access with the ability to manipulate subscriber data and cms_id injection, attackers can generate valid autologin URLs that bypass normal WordPress authentication entirely. This represents a classic confused deputy problem where the plugin's privileged code trusts attacker-controllable input without proper authorization boundaries.
RemediationAI
Immediately upgrade AcyMailing plugin to version 10.8.2 or later, which addresses the missing capability check vulnerability (verify fix availability with AcyBA vendor advisory at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a895e2cf-9eba-4c46-b19f-d008e1058f64?source=cve). If immediate patching is not possible, implement these compensating controls: (1) Disable new subscriber registrations by removing self-registration capabilities and setting WordPress to disallow new user registrations (Settings → General → Membership); this prevents attackers from obtaining the required PR:L authenticated access, though existing Subscriber accounts remain a threat vector. (2) Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules blocking POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=acymailing_router from non-administrator sessions; note this may break legitimate newsletter functionality for lower-privileged users. (3) Audit existing subscriber accounts for anomalous cms_id values using database queries (SELECT * FROM wp_acym_user WHERE cms_id IS NOT NULL) and verify autologin feature status in AcyMailing configuration-disable if not operationally required. (4) Monitor WordPress authentication logs for unexpected administrative logins using autologin URLs (look for acymailing_front_user parameter in access logs). These workarounds reduce attack surface but do not eliminate the vulnerability; patching remains the only complete remediation.
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Same weakness CWE-862 – Missing Authorization
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External POC / Exploit Code
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