CVE-2026-42736

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots <= 2.14.16 - Unauthenticated Insecure Direct Object Reference

2026-05-27 00:00
dodoh4t

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.15.0
Affected Plugin
Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots
Affected Version
<= 2.14.16
CVSS
5.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
CVE
CVE-2026-42736
View all Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-42736 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the Better Messages WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.14.16. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.15.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2026, reported by dodoh4t.

Vulnerability Overview

The Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in all versions up to, and including, 2.14.16 due to missing validation on a user controlled key. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to perform an unauthorized action.

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.

CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

Reaching this weakness in Better Messages <= 2.14.16 takes no account at all. Authorization bypass through a user-controlled key, often called insecure direct object reference, means the application looks up a record by an identifier from the request without checking that the caller owns it.

Changing a number in the request is enough to read or modify other users' records, which on commerce and membership sites means customer data. For Better Messages the fix is 2.15.0: builds <= 2.14.16 are affected, anything from 2.15.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.15.0, 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: Better Messages 2.15.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-42736https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/be23d61f-1e7f-40fb-88ca-dd0ed226a7c5https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42736

Related records

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