CVE-2026-105989 in Accept PayPal Payments using Contact Form 7 Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/10/2026
The Accept PayPal Payments using Contact Form 7 WordPress plugin before 4.0.7 does not perform any authorization or request-validation checks on one of its AJAX actions, allowing unauthenticated attackers to forge the stored transaction status of records and to write the Accept PayPal Payments using Contact Form 7 WordPress plugin before 4.0.7's status metadata onto arbitrary posts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/10/2026
The vulnerability identified in versions of the Accept PayPal Payments using Contact Form 7 WordPress plugin prior to version 4.0.7 represents a critical failure in access control mechanisms, specifically categorized under CWE-285: Improper Authorization. This flaw stems from the absence of any authorization or request-validation checks on specific AJAX endpoints exposed by the plugin. In standard web application security practices, actions that modify state or sensitive data must verify that the requesting user possesses the necessary privileges to perform such operations. However, in this instance, the affected AJAX action is accessible without requiring authentication, effectively allowing unauthenticated actors to interact with backend logic intended for authorized administrators or verified users only. This lack of validation creates a direct pathway for attackers to manipulate plugin functionality remotely and anonymously.
The operational impact of this vulnerability allows an attacker to forge the stored transaction status associated with PayPal payments processed through Contact Form 7 submissions. By exploiting the unauthenticated AJAX endpoint, malicious actors can alter database records that track payment outcomes, potentially marking transactions as completed when they were not or vice versa. This manipulation undermines the integrity of financial reporting and order processing systems built upon this plugin infrastructure. Furthermore, the vulnerability extends beyond simple status modification to include arbitrary metadata writes. Attackers are capable of writing the Accept PayPal Payments using Contact Form 7 WordPress plugin's status metadata onto posts that have no relation to their intended purpose. This capability indicates a severe lack of input validation and context awareness within the backend processing logic, allowing for potential data corruption or confusion in content management systems where post statuses might be influenced by these injected metadata fields.
From an offensive security perspective, this vulnerability aligns with MITRE ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and defense evasion through manipulation of application state. The ability to write arbitrary metadata suggests that the attacker could potentially influence how posts are displayed or filtered within a WordPress environment if other plugins or themes rely on these specific meta keys for logic execution. While the primary impact described is financial record forgery, the secondary capability of writing status metadata to arbitrary posts opens avenues for further exploitation depending on the broader site architecture. For example, if a theme uses post meta values to determine visibility or publishing state, an attacker could theoretically hide content or alter display behaviors without direct access to the WordPress admin dashboard.
Mitigation strategies must prioritize immediate patching as the primary defense vector. Administrators running versions of Accept PayPal Payments using Contact Form 7 prior to 4.0.7 should upgrade to version 4.0.7 or later, where these authorization checks have been implemented by the developers. In environments where upgrading is not immediately feasible due to compatibility constraints, temporary mitigations include restricting access to WordPress AJAX endpoints via web application firewall rules that block unauthenticated POST requests to known vulnerable action hooks. Additionally, implementing strict input validation and ensuring that all state-changing operations require valid nonces and authenticated user sessions are essential best practices for preventing similar vulnerabilities in custom or third-party plugins. Regular security audits of plugin codebases focusing on access control lists and AJAX handler permissions can help identify and remediate such flaws before they are exploited in the wild.