Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessIdentify site with Magee Shortcodes ≤2.1.1
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DeliverySend crafted contact-form request
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ExploitOverride recipient and body fields
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ExecutionRelay arbitrary emails via site
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ImpactSpam/phishing from victim domain
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V3 - Web Frontend Security Server-side parameter enforcement
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires that the vulnerable Magee Shortcodes plugin (through 2.1.1) is installed and active on a WordPress site and that a page exposes one of its contact-form shortcodes so the unauthenticated contact-form action is reachable. The core defect is that the recipient address of certain unauthenticated contact-form actions is not restricted to a server-defined value, letting the attacker control the destination. No authentication (PR:N) and no user interaction (UI:N) are needed. The main limiting factor is deployment-dependence: a site must actually render the plugin's contact form for the action endpoint to be live; sites with the plugin installed but no shortcode-bearing page are less exposed. Impact is confined to email abuse - there is no code execution or data disclosure. |
| Impact | This is a moderate, non-critical issue best characterized as abuse-of-functionality rather than system compromise. The provided CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N, base 5.3) is internally consistent with the description: a remote, unauthenticated attacker over the network can trigger the flaw with low complexity and no user interaction, affecting integrity only (I:L) with no confidentiality or availability impact. The low integrity impact correctly reflects that the attacker does not alter the target system itself but abuses it as an open mail relay to send arbitrary emails. Publicly available exploit code exists (per WPScan), which raises practical reachability, but this CVE is NOT in CISA KEV, so there is no confirmed active exploitation. No EPSS score was provided in the input, so exploitation-probability cannot be quantified here. There is no SSVC decision data supplied. The dominant real-world risk is reputational/operational: the site's domain and IP can be used to send spam or phishing, leading to blocklisting and deliverability damage, not takeover of the host. Net: a genuine but medium-priority issue - prioritize patching on high-traffic or email-reputation-sensitive sites, but it is not a drop-everything critical. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker identifies a WordPress site running Magee Shortcodes (≤2.1.1) and sends crafted, unauthenticated requests to the plugin's contact-form action, specifying an arbitrary recipient address and message body. A public exploit for this exists (WPScan), so the attacker can script bulk delivery, turning the site into an open relay for spam or phishing that appears to originate from the victim domain. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 07, 2026
Unauthenticated email relay in the Magee Shortcodes WordPress plugin (versions through 2.1.1) allows remote attackers to send arbitrary emails to any address through an affected site, because the plugin does not restrict the recipient of some of its unauthenticated contact-form actions. Any WordPress site running the plugin with a page that renders one of its contact-form shortcodes is exposed; sites with the plugin installed but no such page are substantially less exposed, since the vulnerable action endpoint is not reachable. No authentication (PR:N) and no user interaction (UI:N) are required, publicly available exploit code exists, and there is no CISA KEV confirmation of active exploitation. The impact is limited to mail abuse - the assessed vector (C:N/I:L/A:N) reflects no data disclosure, no code execution and no denial of service, making this a moderate abuse-of-functionality issue rather than a system compromise.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch for a fixed version is identified in the available data - the advisory documents the flaw as present through 2.1.1 without naming a corrected release - so verification with the WPScan advisory (https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/3adcac09-7e0f-4a43-90bd-58952aef80dd/) and the plugin's upstream repository for a newer release is the first step; if a version above 2.1.1 exists, upgrading to it is the primary fix. If no fixed release is available, deactivate and remove the plugin (the most reliable mitigation, at the cost of losing all of its shortcode content) or, at minimum, remove or unpublish any page or post that renders its contact-form shortcodes so the vulnerable action endpoint is no longer reachable - a lower-impact option that leaves other plugin features intact. Compensating controls to layer on: rate-limit or block unauthenticated POSTs to admin-ajax.php matching the plugin's contact-form action, and configure an outbound mail control - restrictive SMTP relay allowlisting, a mail-sending plugin that pins the From/To envelope, or a hosted email provider with per-hour send caps - so a successful relay cannot fan out bulk mail; be aware that aggressive admin-ajax blocking can break legitimate front-end features of other plugins, so scope rules to the specific action name. Finally, review outbound mail logs and queues for unexpected recipients or volume to detect prior abuse, and consider the site's IP/domain reputation impact when assessing urgency.
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
Magee Shortcodes is a WordPress plugin that provides shortcode-driven UI elements, including contact-form components. The defect sits in the plugin's unauthenticated contact-form action handler - the kind of handler registered through WordPress's wp_ajax_nopriv_* pattern and reachable via admin-ajax.php (or an equivalent front-end endpoint) without any login. The handler accepts the destination/recipient parameter from the request and passes it to WordPress's mail-sending function without validating that the recipient matches a server-defined value, so an attacker can substitute any address and use the site as an open mail relay. The submission provides no CWE assignment, but behaviorally this is an input-validation / improper-access-control class issue (recipient field not constrained by the application). The supplied CPE string (cpe:2.3:a:unknown:magee_shortcodes:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) carries a placeholder vendor and an unconstrained version, so the authoritative scope marker is the version range stated by WPScan: all releases through and including 2.1.1. Note that the accompanying tag set labels this 'RCE'; that tag is inconsistent with both the CVSS vector (C:N/I:L/A:N) and the assessed impact, and should not be treated as indicating code execution.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Remote unauthenticated request with no interaction (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N); only integrity is lightly affected (I:L) via unauthorized email sending, with no confidentiality or availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (WPScan).
CVSS VectorVendor: WPScan
DescriptionCVE.org
The Magee Shortcodes WordPress plugin through 2.1.1 does not restrict the recipient of some of its unauthenticated contact-form actions, allowing unauthenticated users to send arbitrary emails to any address through the site (mail relay).
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
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