CVE-2026-104732

Advanced IP Blocker <= 8.13.13 - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass via Missing Step-1 Binding to 2FA Login Handler

2026-10-09 15:13
Wordfence PRISM

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 8.13.14
Affected Plugin
Advanced IP Blocker
Affected Version
<= 8.13.13
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-287 · Improper Authentication
CVE
CVE-2026-104732
View all Advanced IP Blocker vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-104732 is a critical-severity Improper Authentication vulnerability in the Advanced IP Blocker WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 8.13.13. 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 8.13.14; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2026, reported by Wordfence PRISM.

Vulnerability Overview

The Advanced IP Blocker plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 8.13.13 The vulnerability exists because `handle_login_action()` performs no server-side check — via transient, session marker, or equivalent — that a requester completed step-1 password authentication before processing a step-2 TOTP submission for the POSTed `user_id`; compounding this, an error branch in the function unconditionally mints a fresh `advaipbl-2fa-interim-{user_id}` nonce and delivers it in a `Location` header to any unauthenticated caller, after which `display_2fa_login_form_step_2()` renders a valid `advaipbl-2fa-verify-{user_id}` nonce in HTML — both nonces computed against a fixed `uid=0` empty-session context and therefore fully reusable by the attacker across subsequent requests. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass authentication entirely for any 2FA-enabled account, including administrators, by brute-forcing an unthrottled 6-digit TOTP code (no attempt counter, no account lockout, and no `wp_login_failed` firing) and receiving a fully authenticated session cookie via `wp_set_auth_cookie` without ever supplying the account password, resulting in complete site takeover. Exploitation requires only a known `user_id` for an account that has the plugin's 2FA feature enabled.

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-287: Improper Authentication

Advanced IP Blocker <= 8.13.13 carries this weakness at handle_login_action(), and reaching it takes no account at all. Improper authentication means the mechanism that proves who a caller is can be satisfied without the secret it was supposed to require.

An attacker authenticates as another user — administrators included — without ever knowing a password, so password policies and login rate limits never come into play. For Advanced IP Blocker the fix is 8.13.14: builds <= 8.13.13 are affected, anything from 8.13.14 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 8.13.14, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: Advanced IP Blocker 8.13.14 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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