Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships <= 4.0.0 - Unauthenticated Password Reset Link Poisoning to Account Takeover
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 4.0.1
- Affected Plugin
- Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships
- Affected Version
<= 4.0.0- CVSS
- 9.3Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-640 · Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
- CVE
CVE-2026-9273
At a glance
CVE-2026-9273 is a critical-severity Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password vulnerability in the Membership Plugin WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.0.0. It carries a CVSS score of 9.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 4.0.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2026, reported by scort.
Vulnerability Overview
The Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships plugin for WordPress (formerly Restrict Content) is vulnerable to password reset link poisoning leading to account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.0. This is due to the legacy lost-password handler rc_process_lost_password_form() consuming the attacker-controlled rc_redirect POST parameter into two unvalidated sinks in legacy/includes/forms.php: wp_redirect( esc_url( $_POST['rc_redirect'] ) . ... ) at line 243, and add_query_arg( array( 'key' => $key, 'login' => ... ), $_POST['rc_redirect'] ) inside rc_send_password_reset_email() at line 306. The nonce required to reach the handler is broadcast by the public [login_form] shortcode at line 207 to any anonymous visitor. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to issue a password-reset request for any account (including administrators) whose reset email body points the victim at an attacker-controlled host carrying a valid reset key/login. When the victim clicks the link, the reset key leaks to the attacker, who can replay it against the legitimate site to complete account takeover.
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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity.
CWE-640: Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
The product contains a mechanism for users to recover or change their passwords without knowing the original password, but the mechanism is weak.
Remediation
Update to version 4.0.1, or a newer patched version
How WordSec helps
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: Membership Plugin 4.0.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships
- 8.2CVE-2025-14844: Membership Plugin Missing Authentication to IDOR and
CVE-2025-14844 - 8.1CVE-2026-1321: Membership Plugin Privilege Escalation
CVE-2026-1321 - 6.4CVE-2025-14000: Membership Plugin – Restrict Content Stored XSS
CVE-2025-14000 - 6.1CVE-2023-3182: Restrict Content <= 3.2.2 Reflected XSS
CVE-2023-3182 - 5.3CVE-2026-32546: Membership Plugin Missing Authorization
CVE-2026-32546 - 5.3CVE-2024-11090: Membership Plugin Content Restriction Bypass to Info
CVE-2024-11090 - 5.3CVE-2024-31432: Restrict Content <= 3.2.8 Missing Authorization
CVE-2024-31432 - 5.3CVE-2023-47668: Restrict Content <= 3.2.7 Information Exposure
CVE-2023-47668
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