CVE-2026-16261 in login-social Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 08/02/2026
The login-social WordPress plugin through 1.0.4 does not validate password-reset requests against a reset key or the requester's identity, and it issues authentication sessions from unverified third-party sign-in data, allowing unauthenticated attackers to reset any user's password or log in as any existing account, including administrators, and take over the site.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/02/2026
The login-social wordpress plugin version 1.0.4 contains a critical authentication vulnerability that fundamentally undermines the security posture of affected systems. This flaw represents a severe weakness in the plugin's session management and identity verification mechanisms, creating an attack vector that allows unauthenticated adversaries to gain complete administrative control over vulnerable wordpress installations. The vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to implement proper validation checks during password reset operations, specifically lacking verification against reset keys or requester identity authentication. This design flaw directly violates fundamental security principles for credential management and user authentication processes.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability enables attackers to exploit the plugin's trust in third-party social authentication data without proper verification steps. When users attempt to reset passwords or log in through social media accounts, the plugin accepts authentication tokens and session data from external providers without confirming that these credentials originate from legitimate users or match expected security parameters. This absence of input validation and identity confirmation creates a pathway for attackers to manipulate the authentication flow by crafting malicious requests that bypass normal security controls. The vulnerability operates at the core of user authentication logic, where trust is placed in external identity providers without proper verification mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is catastrophic for affected wordpress sites, as it provides attackers with direct pathways to assume administrative privileges and execute arbitrary code within the application environment. An attacker can leverage this flaw to reset passwords for any user account, including high-privilege administrator accounts, effectively gaining complete control over the target system. This vulnerability enables a wide range of malicious activities including data exfiltration, site defacement, malware deployment, and establishment of persistent backdoors. The attack surface extends beyond simple privilege escalation to include potential lateral movement within networks where wordpress installations are deployed as part of larger infrastructure ecosystems.
Security mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements to prevent similar issues in the future. The primary solution involves updating to a patched version of the login-social plugin that implements proper validation checks for password reset requests and authentication session creation. Organizations should also implement additional security controls such as multi-factor authentication, enhanced monitoring of authentication events, and regular security scanning of wordpress installations for vulnerable plugins. This vulnerability aligns with common weakness enumerations CWE-346 for improper verification of intended destination and CWE-287 for improper certificate validation, while mapping to attack techniques in the ATT&CK framework under credential access and privilege escalation categories. The flaw demonstrates how insufficient input validation and trust assumptions in third-party integrations can create severe security risks that compromise entire application environments.