Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessIdentify site running plugin ≤1.19 with W3 Total Cache
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ExploitDerive mfunc key from hardcoded W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY value
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ExecutionCraft request with signed mfunc PHP payload
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ImpactExecute arbitrary PHP on web server
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A04:2025 - Cryptographic Failures
ASVS 5.0
V11 - Cryptography Cryptographic random values
|
| Exploitation Conditions | The confidentiality leak itself requires no special conditions - a remote unauthenticated attacker can rely on the W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY constant being hardcoded to a publicly known value in all versions up to and including 1.19. However, escalation to arbitrary PHP code injection is strictly gated: the W3 Total Cache plugin must ALSO be installed on the same site and its mfunc dynamic-content feature must be active to process signed mfunc directives. On sites without W3 Total Cache, or without mfunc in use, impact is limited to disclosure of a security key with no direct code-execution path. The limiting factor is therefore the co-presence and configuration of a second, separate plugin (W3 Total Cache), not any authentication or user interaction. |
| Impact | The input signals point to a moderate, conditional risk rather than a widespread emergency. The provided CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N) yields a 5.3 Medium score reflecting ONLY the low-impact confidentiality leak (C:L/I:N/A:N) - i.e. the exposure of the hardcoded W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY value - not the far more serious PHP code injection that becomes possible downstream. That escalation is explicitly conditional: the description says arbitrary PHP code injection 'may' occur only 'when W3 Total Cache is installed' and its mfunc feature is in use, so the headline 5.3 understates worst-case impact while the worst case itself is gated by a second-plugin prerequisite. No EPSS score, KEV listing, POC, or SSVC decision data was supplied in the input, so exploitation probability and automatability cannot be quantified from the data given - there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation. Net: this is a credible defense-in-depth weakness for sites running both this plugin and W3 Total Cache, but absent EPSS/KEV/POC signals it should be treated as a patch-promptly item, not a drop-everything incident. Note the conflict to verify: the unauthenticated network vector applies to disclosing the key, but weaponizing it into RCE depends on a separate product (W3 Total Cache) and its configuration, which the base CVSS does not capture. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote, unauthenticated attacker targets a WordPress site running Lightweight Cookie Notice (≤1.19) alongside W3 Total Cache. Because W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY is hardcoded to a publicly known value, the attacker already knows the W3 Total Cache mfunc security key and can craft requests containing mfunc directives that, if W3TC processes them, execute attacker-supplied PHP on the server. No public exploit code was identified in the provided data, and the RCE path depends on W3 Total Cache being installed and processing mfunc content. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 16, 2026
Sensitive information exposure in the WordPress plugin Lightweight Cookie Notice (daext) in all versions up to and including 1.19 leaks the W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY constant, which the plugin hardcodes to a publicly known value; a remote, unauthenticated attacker can therefore learn the W3 Total Cache mfunc security key without any credentials or user interaction. On sites that also run W3 Total Cache with its mfunc dynamic-content feature active, knowledge of that key may allow an attacker to forge signed mfunc directives and inject arbitrary PHP code, but the confidentiality leak alone scores only 5.3 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N) and escalation to code execution is strictly conditional on the co-presence and configuration of that second plugin. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis and there is no indication of confirmed active exploitation (no CISA KEV listing).
RemediationAI
Upstream fix available (PR/commit); released patched version not independently confirmed - the vendor-published change is WordPress.org Trac changeset 3584811 for lightweight-cookie-notice-free (https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3584811/lightweight-cookie-notice-free/trunk/public/class-daextlwcnf-public.php), so site owners should upgrade the plugin to the first release that incorporates that changeset and treat any version at or below 1.19 as vulnerable. Because the leaked value is a shared secret rather than a per-site key, patching the plugin does not invalidate the key already known to attackers: on any site that also runs W3 Total Cache, rotate W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY to a unique, randomly generated value and clear the page cache so no signed mfunc fragments carry the old key; the trade-off is that cached fragments must be regenerated, causing a brief origin-load increase. If W3 Total Cache's mfunc dynamic-content feature is not strictly required, disable it entirely (or disable W3 Total Cache), which removes the PHP code-injection path at the cost of losing per-user/dynamic cached fragments such as carts or personalization blocks. Where neither plugin is business-critical, deactivating and deleting the Lightweight Cookie Notice plugin removes the exposure with only the loss of the cookie banner; additional detail is in the Wordfence advisory at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/54e53420-aa89-49d6-9632-cba066c46a51?source=cve. Note that the plugin being present alone is not exploitable for code execution - no compensating control is needed beyond applying the fix, and no vendor-released patch version number could be confirmed from the supplied data.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
Root cause is CWE-330 (Use of Insufficiently Random Values): rather than generating a site-unique secret, the Lightweight Cookie Notice codebase ships the W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY constant hardcoded to a value that is publicly known, so the value is identical across every installation and is trivially recoverable by inspecting the plugin's source. W3 Total Cache uses that same constant as the signing key for its mfunc (dynamic content) mechanism: mfunc directives embedded in cached HTML are accompanied by a signature computed with W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY, and W3 Total Cache only evaluates the enclosed PHP when the signature validates. Because the key is predictable, an attacker who can get content rendered or requested on a target site can construct a correctly signed mfunc directive; if the feature is enabled, W3 Total Cache will evaluate it as PHP. The affected package is tracked as cpe:2.3:a:daext:lightweight_cookie_notice_-_cookie_banner_for_cookie_consent:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* (the WordPress.org slug is lightweight-cookie-notice-free). The exposed asset is a shared secret rather than data in the site's database, so the practical severity depends entirely on whether the paired W3 Total Cache plugin is installed and processing signed dynamic content.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Remote unauthenticated disclosure of a hardcoded key justifies AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N with C:L; I:N/A:N because code injection is a conditional downstream effect requiring a separate plugin.
Primary rating from Vendor (Wordfence).
CVSS VectorVendor: Wordfence
DescriptionCVE.org
The Lightweight Cookie Notice - Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 1.19 This is due to the W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY constant being hardcoded to a publicly known value. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to know the W3 Total Cache mfunc security key, which when W3 Total Cache is installed may allow arbitrary PHP code injection.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
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EUVD-2026-102667
GHSA-phxf-4j8m-r2jf
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB