CVE-2026-13747 in Meow Gallery Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/30/2026
The Meow Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 5.5.4 This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with author-level access and above, to enumerate and read metadata — including post ID, title, date, author, and status — of all private and draft posts on the site, including those authored by other users.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/30/2026
The vulnerability identified in Meow Gallery versions up to 5.5.4 represents a critical authorization bypass flaw within the WordPress ecosystem. This security defect stems from insufficient access control mechanisms embedded in the plugin's codebase, specifically failing to enforce proper verification of user permissions before executing sensitive operations. In secure software architecture, every action that interacts with data or system resources must be preceded by rigorous checks ensuring the requesting entity possesses the requisite privileges for that specific context. The absence of these checks allows users who have already authenticated into the WordPress environment and hold author-level access or higher to bypass intended restrictions. This flaw is particularly concerning because it affects all versions up through 5.5.4, indicating a systemic issue in how the plugin handles permission validation across its functional modules rather than an isolated incident in a single feature.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability enables authenticated attackers with author-level access and above to enumerate and read metadata associated with private and draft posts on the targeted WordPress site. The attacker can retrieve sensitive information including post IDs, titles, publication dates, authors, and current status fields for content that is not publicly visible. This capability effectively neutralizes the privacy controls intended by these statuses, as the data remains accessible despite being marked as restricted or unpublished. The exploitation of this flaw does not require complex injection techniques or remote code execution; instead, it relies on manipulating legitimate API endpoints or administrative functions where permission checks are either missing or incorrectly implemented. By leveraging standard HTTP requests with valid authentication cookies or tokens associated with an author account, the attacker can systematically query for metadata that should be restricted to administrators only.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant, primarily concerning data confidentiality and integrity within content management systems. For organizations relying on WordPress for internal communications, client projects, or pre-launch marketing materials, the exposure of draft posts poses a severe risk. Competitors could gain insight into upcoming product launches, strategic plans, or business operations by reviewing unpublished articles authored by colleagues with elevated privileges. Furthermore, the ability to enumerate post IDs and author information facilitates further reconnaissance activities, potentially aiding in more targeted attacks such as social engineering campaigns against specific staff members identified through their associated content. The exposure of private posts also violates data protection principles, particularly if those posts contain personally identifiable information or confidential business details, thereby exposing the organization to regulatory compliance issues under frameworks like GDPR or CCPA depending on jurisdiction and data type.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which describes Improper Access Control, specifically highlighting failures in verifying user authorization for actions that modify state or expose sensitive data. Additionally, it maps to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078, Valid Accounts, as the exploitation relies on legitimate credentials being used to perform unauthorized actions due to flawed permission logic rather than credential theft. The attack vector is classified under Initial Access and Privilege Escalation contexts within enterprise environments where internal users may have varying levels of trust but insufficient oversight regarding their actual permissions relative to sensitive data assets.
Mitigation strategies must prioritize immediate remediation through software updates, as the vendor has released patched versions that address these authorization checks. Administrators should upgrade Meow Gallery to a version newer than 5.5.4 immediately upon availability. In environments where updating is not instantly feasible, temporary mitigations include restricting author-level access to only those users who strictly require it for their job functions, thereby reducing the pool of potential attackers capable of exploiting this flaw. Implementing Web Application Firewalls with rules targeting suspicious enumeration patterns related to post metadata endpoints can also provide a layer of defense by detecting and blocking excessive requests that attempt to harvest private content information. Regular auditing of user roles and permissions within WordPress is essential to ensure that elevated privileges are granted on a least-privilege basis, minimizing the blast radius should such vulnerabilities be present in any installed plugin.