CVE-2026-16774

WPBot <= 8.5.9 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Email Relay via wpcs_send_email AJAX Action

2026-07-27 23:29
Wordfence PRISM

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 8.6.0
Affected Plugin
WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, AI Services
Affected Version
<= 8.5.9
CVSS
5.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2026-16774
View all WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, AI Services vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-16774 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the WPBot WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 8.5.9. 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 8.6.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2026, reported by Wordfence PRISM.

Vulnerability Overview

The Chatbot plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in versions up to, and including, 8.5.9 via the wpcs_send_email() AJAX handler. This is due to the wpcs_send_email() function being registered on both wp_ajax_wpcs_send_email and wp_ajax_nopriv_wpcs_send_email with no nonce verification, capability check, or rate limiting, while forwarding attacker-controlled recipient, subject, and body directly to wp_mail(). This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to send arbitrary emails to any recipient from the site's domain, enabling spam, phishing, and abuse that can lead to the site's IP/domain being blacklisted.

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-862: Missing Authorization

WPBot <= 8.5.9 carries this weakness at wpcs_send_email(), and reaching it takes no account at all. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For WPBot the fix is 8.6.0: builds <= 8.5.9 are affected, anything from 8.6.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 8.6.0, 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: WPBot 8.6.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16774https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3cc6aa06-ab2a-4d5c-bbbe-4c19722ccc53https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16774

Related records

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