CVE-2026-57698 in Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 07/13/2026
Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in VillaTheme Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce woo-abandoned-cart-recovery allows Authentication Abuse.This issue affects Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce: from n/a through <= 1.1.12.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/13/2026
This authentication bypass vulnerability resides within the VillaTheme Abandoned Cart Recovery plugin for WooCommerce, specifically impacting versions up to and including 1.1.12. The flaw enables unauthorized users to circumvent the standard authentication mechanisms by exploiting an alternate path or channel within the application's access control system. This represents a critical security weakness that directly violates fundamental principles of secure software design and access control enforcement.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user credentials when accessing certain administrative functionalities. Attackers can leverage this alternate channel to gain unauthorized access to abandoned cart recovery features without proper authentication, effectively bypassing the standard WordPress login mechanisms. The issue manifests as a failure in the plugin's authorization checks, where legitimate administrative operations can be accessed through alternative entry points that do not properly verify user permissions or session validity.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability creates significant risks for WooCommerce store owners and their customers' data integrity. An attacker gaining unauthorized access could potentially view sensitive customer information, manipulate abandoned cart data, modify recovery settings, or even execute malicious actions within the affected plugin's administrative interface. The impact extends beyond simple data exposure to encompass potential disruption of business operations and compromise of customer trust, particularly in e-commerce environments where user data protection is paramount.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control issues in software systems, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for social engineering approaches that exploit weak access controls. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including immediate plugin updates to version 1.1.13 or later, where the authentication bypass has been addressed through proper access control enforcement and input validation. Additionally, administrators should review their current user permissions, implement network segmentation, and monitor access logs for any suspicious activities related to the abandoned cart recovery plugin.
Security hardening measures should include implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts, restricting administrative access to specific IP addresses, and regularly auditing plugin installations for known vulnerabilities. The affected plugin's developers have acknowledged this issue and released patched versions that properly enforce authentication checks across all access paths, ensuring that only authorized users with valid session tokens can access the administrative features. Organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their WooCommerce installations to identify any other plugins or components that may exhibit similar access control weaknesses.