Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce <= 10.8.0 - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass via Malleable Encryption and Bypassable HMAC via Recovery Link 'validate' Parameter
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 10.8.1
- Affected Plugin
- Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce
- Affected Version
<= 10.8.0- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
- CVE
CVE-2026-97657
At a glance
CVE-2026-97657 is a critical-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 10.8.0. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 10.8.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2026, reported by andrea bocchetti.
Vulnerability Overview
The Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass via Malleable Encryption and Bypassable HMAC in all versions up to, and including, 10.8.0. This is due to the use of MAC-free AES-CTR encryption for cart-recovery link tokens — where the 8-byte CTR nonce is carried inside the ciphertext blob and the encryption key is looked up using the attacker-supplied `user_email` GET parameter — combined with an HMAC nonce check in `wcap_email_track_links()` that is only enforced when the `wcap_nonce` parameter is non-empty, allowing complete bypass by omission, and an insecure direct object reference on the decrypted `abandoned_id` with no ownership verification confirming the cart belongs to the email used for decryption. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers who possess a single legitimate cart-recovery link (obtained from their own reminder email) to recover the keystream, forge a ciphertext that decrypts to any victim's cart ID, and trigger a call to `wp_set_auth_cookie()` for the victim user — achieving full account takeover of any user who has ever abandoned a cart, including administrators. The auto-login feature defaults to enabled and is forced on during plugin upgrades, meaning all affected installations are exploitable without any additional configuration.
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-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce <= 10.8.0 carries this weakness at wcap_email_track_links(), and reaching it takes no account at all. 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 Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce the fix is 10.8.1: builds <= 10.8.0 are affected, anything from 10.8.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 10.8.1, or a newer patched version
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. None of that substitutes for the fix: Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce 10.8.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce
- 9.8CVE-2026-97668: Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce SQL Injection
CVE-2026-97668 - 8.8CVE-2026-81543: Abandoned Cart Pro… Authenticated (Subscriber+)
CVE-2026-81543 - 8.8CVE-2026-56010: Abandoned Cart Pro… Privilege Escalation
CVE-2026-56010 - 8.8CVE-2025-4387: Abandoned Cart Pro… Arbitrary File Upload
CVE-2025-4387 - 7.5CVE-2026-102251: Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce SQL Injection
CVE-2026-102251 - 7.3CVE-2026-66682: Abandoned Cart Pro… Privilege Escalation
CVE-2026-66682
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