CVE-2026-73997 in Starter Templates Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 08/18/2026
Unauthenticated Denial of Service Attack in Starter Templates by Kadence WP <= 2.3.3 versions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/18/2026
The vulnerability identified as an unauthenticated denial of service attack within the Kadence WordPress starter templates plugin, specifically affecting versions up to and including 2.3.3, represents a significant availability risk for websites relying on this software infrastructure. This flaw allows any remote actor without valid credentials or authentication tokens to disrupt the normal functioning of the targeted web application. The core issue stems from insufficient input validation and resource management controls within the plugin's codebase, which fails to adequately restrict the complexity or volume of requests that can be processed by the server during specific template rendering operations. By exploiting this weakness, an attacker can trigger a state where the server becomes overwhelmed, leading to service degradation or complete unavailability for legitimate users accessing the site.
From a technical perspective, the vulnerability likely involves inefficient handling of certain parameters passed through HTTP requests related to starter template imports or configurations. When these inputs are processed without proper sanitization or rate limiting mechanisms, they can cause excessive CPU consumption, memory exhaustion, or database lock contention on the backend server. This type of resource exhaustion is characteristic of attacks classified under CWE-400, which denotes uncontrolled resource consumption. The lack of authentication requirements for this vector means that the attack surface is maximized, as any internet user with knowledge of the target URL can initiate the exploit without needing to bypass login screens or steal session cookies. This significantly lowers the barrier to entry for malicious actors seeking to cause disruption.
The operational impact of such a denial of service event extends beyond simple downtime. For businesses and content publishers using WordPress, prolonged unavailability directly translates to lost revenue, damaged reputation, and reduced search engine rankings due to increased bounce rates and failed crawls. Furthermore, the effort required by system administrators to restore services can be substantial, especially if automated backups are not frequently updated or if the root cause is difficult to isolate amidst high traffic loads caused by the attack itself. The persistence of this vulnerability in versions up to 2.3.3 indicates a gap in security testing during the development lifecycle, highlighting the importance of rigorous code review and static analysis for plugins that handle complex data structures like starter templates.
In terms of threat modeling and industry standards, this vulnerability aligns with MITRE ATT&CK techniques related to Resource Hijacking or Denial of Service, specifically focusing on infrastructure denial rather than application-level logic flaws. It underscores the critical need for defense-in-depth strategies in web application security. Mitigation efforts should prioritize immediate patching by upgrading the Kadence WP starter templates plugin to a version newer than 2.3.3 where these resource management issues have been addressed. Additionally, administrators can implement temporary mitigations at the network perimeter level, such as configuring Web Application Firewalls to rate-limit requests that trigger template processing functions or blocking suspicious IP addresses exhibiting high-frequency request patterns associated with DoS attacks. Regular security audits and adherence to secure coding practices are essential to prevent similar vulnerabilities in future releases.