CVE-2026-16610

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro <= 8.9.0 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via PHP Code Injection via cfgroup[input] Repeater Row Key

2026-07-29 15:32
Nox Axter

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 8.9.1
Affected Version
<= 8.9.0
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
CVE
CVE-2026-16610
View all Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-16610 is a critical-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 8.9.0. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 8.9.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2026, reported by Nox Axter.

Vulnerability Overview

The Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to, and including, 8.9.0 via the recursive_html function. This is due to the frontend save handler enforces only a publicly emitted nonce with no authentication check, CAPTCHA validation is bypassable by omitting an attacker-supplied key, and repeater row keys from cfgroup[input] are stored verbatim and later spliced into an eval() call in recursive_html without any sanitization or identifier validation. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute code on the server. This requires the [post_cf_form] shortcode to be present on at least one publicly accessible page, as the nonce and session ID needed to reach the vulnerable save handler are emitted to unauthenticated visitors by that shortcode.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro <= 8.9.0 carries this weakness at eval(), and reaching it takes no account at all. An unrestricted file upload lets a caller store a file whose type or destination the application does not properly constrain.

If an uploaded file lands anywhere the server will execute, the flaw becomes remote code execution and the site should be treated as fully compromised. For Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro the fix is 8.9.1: builds <= 8.9.0 are affected, anything from 8.9.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 8.9.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro 8.9.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Login Security

External References

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C