CVE-2026-65512 in WP Activity Log Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 07/23/2026
Unauthenticated Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in WP Activity Log <= 5.6.4 versions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/23/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in the WP Activity Log plugin for WordPress systems, specifically affecting versions up to and including 5.6.4. The issue stems from insufficient validation of cross site request forgery attacks that occur when unauthenticated users can manipulate the plugin's functionality through crafted requests. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can perform unauthorized actions on behalf of legitimate users without requiring authentication credentials, thereby compromising the integrity and security of WordPress installations that rely on this plugin for activity monitoring and logging.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the plugin's failure to implement proper anti-CSRF mechanisms during critical administrative operations. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic cross site request forgery weakness where the application does not adequately verify the authenticity of requests originating from legitimate users. The flaw allows attackers to craft malicious requests that leverage the trust relationship between the web application and its users, enabling unauthorized modifications to the system's configuration or data. This particular implementation issue affects the plugin's ability to distinguish between legitimate administrative actions initiated by authenticated users and potentially malicious requests submitted by unauthorized parties.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass potential complete system compromise. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform actions such as modifying user permissions, deleting log entries, changing plugin settings, or even executing arbitrary code within the WordPress environment. The consequences are particularly severe in multi-user environments where administrators might inadvertently trigger malicious requests through phishing campaigns or compromised websites that reference the vulnerable plugin. This vulnerability directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which describes valid accounts used for persistence and privilege escalation, as attackers can leverage the authenticated session context to perform unauthorized administrative tasks.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate version updates to WP Activity Log 5.6.5 or later, which contain the necessary patches addressing the CSRF validation issues. Organizations should also implement additional protective measures such as network-level filtering to restrict access to plugin endpoints and ensure that proper authentication mechanisms are enforced at all administrative interfaces. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of their WordPress installations to identify any other plugins with similar vulnerabilities, as this represents a common pattern in web application security flaws. The remediation process must include thorough testing of the patched versions to ensure that legitimate functionality remains intact while the CSRF vulnerability is properly addressed through proper token validation and request origin verification mechanisms.