Security & Malware scan by CleanTalk <= 2.50 - Missing Authorization
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.51
- Affected Version
<= 2.50- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2020-36698
At a glance
CVE-2020-36698 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.50. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 2.51; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2020, reported by Jerome Bruandet.
Vulnerability Overview
The Security & Malware scan by CleanTalk plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized user interaction in versions up to, and including, 2.50. This is due to missing capability checks on several AJAX actions and nonce disclosure in the source page of the administrative dashboard. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level permissions and above, to call functions and delete and/or upload files.
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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-862: Missing Authorization
Reaching this weakness in Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal <= 2.50 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.
Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal the fix is 2.51: builds <= 2.50 are affected, anything from 2.51 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.51, 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: Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 2.51 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal
- 9.8CVE-2024-13365: Security & Malware scan… Arbitrary File Upload
CVE-2024-13365 - 7.5CVE-2026-66593: Security Plugin SQL Injection
CVE-2026-66593 - 7.5CVE-2024-10570: Security & Malware scan… Authorization Bypass
CVE-2024-10570 - 7.2CVE-2025-13604: Login Security Stored XSS
CVE-2025-13604 - 5.3CVE-2023-5239: Security & Malware scan by CleanTalk IP Spoofing
CVE-2023-5239
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C