CVE-2026-12417

SignUp & SignIn <= 1.0.0 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation via Weak Password Reset Validation via 'reset_activation_code' Leading to Account Takeover

2026-06-23 16:37
Alyudin Nafiie

Strategic Overview

Status
Unpatched
Affected Plugin
SignUp & SignIn
Affected Version
<= 1.0.0
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-640 · Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
CVE
CVE-2026-12417
View all SignUp & SignIn vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-12417 is a critical-severity Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password vulnerability in the SignUp & SignIn WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.0.0. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed June 2026, reported by Alyudin Nafiie.

Vulnerability Overview

The SignUp & SignIn plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass via Weak Password Reset Validation leading to Account Takeover in versions up to, and including, 1.0.0. This is due to the `pravel_change_password()` AJAX handler — registered via `wp_ajax_nopriv_pravel_change_password` and therefore accessible to unauthenticated users — performing no nonce verification, no capability check, and only a loose equality check between an attacker-supplied `reset_activation_code` POST parameter and the target user's `forgot_email` user meta value; when a user has never initiated a password reset, `get_user_meta()` returns an empty string that trivially satisfies this check against an omitted or empty attacker-supplied code. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change the password of any WordPress user, including administrators, by sending a crafted POST request to `admin-ajax.php` with `action=pravel_change_password`, `reset_user_id` set to the target account's user ID, and `new_password_custom` set to an attacker-chosen password. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to authenticate with the newly set password and fully take over the targeted account, achieving administrator-level privilege escalation on the affected site.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-640: Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password

SignUp & SignIn <= 1.0.0 carries this weakness at pravel_change_password(), and reaching it takes no account at all. A weak password recovery mechanism means the path that lets someone back into an account without their password is easier to complete than the password itself.

An attacker takes over an account through the recovery flow without ever seeing the password, and on an administrator account that is full control of the site. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for SignUp & SignIn yet, so installs running <= 1.0.0 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.

Remediation

No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.

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. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

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