CVE-2026-1490

Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk <= 6.71 - Authorization Bypass via Reverse DNS (PTR record) Spoofing to Unauthenticated Arbitrary Plugin Installation

2026-02-14 14:21

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 6.72
Affected Plugin: Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk
Affected Version: <= 6.71
CVSS: 9.8Critical
Weakness type: CWE-350 · Reliance on Reverse DNS Resolution for a Security-Critical Action
CVE: CVE-2026-1490

View all Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-1490 is a critical-severity Reliance on Reverse DNS Resolution for a Security-Critical Action vulnerability in the Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 6.71. 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 6.72; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2026, reported by Nguyen Ngoc Duc (duc193).

Vulnerability Overview

The Spam protection, Anti-Spam, FireWall by CleanTalk plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized Arbitrary Plugin Installation due to an authorization bypass via reverse DNS (PTR record) spoofing on the 'checkWithoutToken' function in all versions up to, and including, 6.71. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to install and activate arbitrary plugins which can be leveraged to achieve remote code execution if another vulnerable plugin is installed and activated. Note: This is only exploitable on sites with an invalid API key.

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-350: Reliance on Reverse DNS Resolution for a Security-Critical Action

The product performs reverse DNS resolution on an IP address to obtain the hostname and make a security decision, but it does not properly ensure that the IP address is truly associated with the hostname.

Remediation

Update to version 6.72, 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: Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk 6.72 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-1490 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/cb603be6-4a12-49e1-b8cc-b2062eb97f16 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-1490

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk

CVSS Vector

9.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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