CVE-2026-6566

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes <= 4.2.0 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Image Deletion via REST API

2026-05-19 17:01
Bao Luu Gia Nguyen

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 4.2.1
Affected Plugin
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery
Affected Version
<= 4.2.0
CVSS
4.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
CVE
CVE-2026-6566
View all Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-6566 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.2.0. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 4.2.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2026, reported by Bao Luu Gia Nguyen.

Vulnerability Overview

The Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in versions up to and including 4.2.0. This is due to insufficient object-level authorization in the image deletion REST flow where the permission callback for DELETE /imagely/v1/images/{id} only checks 'NextGEN Manage gallery' permissions and does not enforce gallery ownership or 'NextGEN Manage others gallery' permissions. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level privileges and 'NextGEN Manage gallery' capability, to delete gallery images belonging to other users as well as their associated image files from disk when deleteImg is enabled (default).

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-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

Reaching this weakness in Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes <= 4.2.0 takes an account at Subscriber level or above. 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 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes the fix is 4.2.1: builds <= 4.2.0 are affected, anything from 4.2.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.2.1, 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: Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes 4.2.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-6566https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/439809ad-21ea-4a0b-b1fd-5de9f8f5ee7ahttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-6566

Related records

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