Limit Login Attempts Reloaded <= 3.4.0 - Two-Factor Authentication Bypass
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.4.1
- Affected Plugin
- Limit Login Attempts Security
- Affected Version
<= 3.4.0- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-287 · Improper Authentication
- CVE
CVE-2026-118202
At a glance
CVE-2026-118202 is a medium-severity Improper Authentication vulnerability in the Limit Login Attempts Security WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.4.0. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 3.4.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2026, reported by Naoki Kawahigashi.
Vulnerability Overview
The Limit Login Attempts Reloaded plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Two-Factor Authentication Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 3.4.0. This is due to a failure to confirm that the two-factor authentication step completed successfully before granting access, combined with treating an inability to construct that step as a passing result. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to skip the second authentication factor entirely and complete a login as that user by supplying a request header that prevents the two-factor step from initialising, which the plugin erroneously interprets as a passed check. The targeted account must have two-factor authentication enabled through the plugin, and the attacker must already know that account's password.
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 interaction from a victim user.
CWE-287: Improper Authentication
Reaching this weakness in Limit Login Attempts Security <= 3.4.0 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 Limit Login Attempts Security the fix is 3.4.1: builds <= 3.4.0 are affected, anything from 3.4.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.4.1, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Limit Login Attempts Security 3.4.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
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