DHL for WooCommerce <= 4.0.0 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Unauthenticated Shipping Label Download
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 4.0.1
- Affected Plugin
- DHL Shipping Germany for WooCommerce
- Affected Version
<= 4.0.0- CVSS
- 5.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
- CVE
CVE-2026-16981
At a glance
CVE-2026-16981 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the DHL Shipping Germany for WooCommerce WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.0.0. 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 4.0.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2026, reported by Pedro Pinho.
Vulnerability Overview
The DHL for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in versions up to, and including, 4.0.0. This is due to shipping label files stored at predictable, publicly accessible upload paths and old-style labels returning a direct public URL that bypassed the capability-checked download endpoint. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to download arbitrary shipping labels belonging to any order without authentication by guessing predictable upload-folder paths or order IDs.
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 DHL Shipping Germany for WooCommerce <= 4.0.0 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 DHL Shipping Germany for WooCommerce the fix is 4.0.1: builds <= 4.0.0 are affected, anything from 4.0.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 4.0.1, 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: DHL Shipping Germany for WooCommerce 4.0.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in DHL Shipping Germany for WooCommerce
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