CVE-2026-3461

Critical

Published: 15 April 2026

Published

15 April 2026

Modified

22 April 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0020 41.9th percentile

Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Description

The Visa Acceptance Solutions plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 2.1.0. This is due to the `express_pay_product_page_pay_for_order()` function logging users in based solely on a user-supplied billing email address during guest…

checkout for subscription products, without verifying email ownership, requiring a password, or validating a one-time token. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to log in as any existing user, including administrators, by providing the target user's email address in the billing_details parameter, resulting in complete account takeover and site compromise.

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

AC-14 Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication good match

prevent

Explicitly authorizes and limits actions performable without identification or authentication, directly preventing the plugin's automatic login based solely on unverified user-supplied email during guest checkout.

IA-8 Identification and Authentication (Non-organizational Users) good match

prevent

Requires identification and authentication of non-organizational users before granting access to systems like WordPress sites, countering the bypass that logs in users without verifying credentials or email ownership.

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

prevent

Enforces approved authorizations for logical access, addressing the failure to require proper authentication before granting user sessions in the vulnerable checkout function.

Security SummaryAI

CVE-2026-3461 is an authentication bypass vulnerability in the Visa Acceptance Solutions plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 2.1.0. The flaw originates in the `express_pay_product_page_pay_for_order()` function, which automatically logs in users during guest checkout for subscription products based solely on a user-supplied billing email address. This occurs without verifying email ownership, requiring a password, or validating a one-time token.

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit the vulnerability remotely with low complexity and no privileges by submitting the target user's email address in the billing_details parameter during the affected checkout process. Successful exploitation grants login access as any existing user, including administrators, enabling complete account takeover and full site compromise. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and is classified under CWE-288 (Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel).

References to the vulnerability include code excerpts from the WordPress plugin trac repository, pinpointing lines 777 and 790 in public/class-visa-acceptance-payment-gateway-expresspay-public.php for both the tagged 2.1.0 release and the trunk branch. The Wordfence threat intelligence advisory provides additional details on the issue via its vulnerability ID page.

Details

CWE(s): CWE-288

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

The vulnerability is an authentication bypass in a public-facing WordPress plugin, directly enabling exploitation of public-facing applications for unauthenticated remote account takeover.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0