A CRITICAL-severity vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-16142 has been published on August 15, 2026 with a CVSS base score of 9.8. This security advisory provides a detailed breakdown of the vulnerability, its potential impact, weakness classification, and actionable steps to protect your systems.
Vulnerability Details
CVE ID: CVE-2026-16142
Severity: CRITICAL
CVSS Score: 9.8
Published: August 15, 2026
Weakness (CWE): CWE-639
| Attack Vector | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low |
| Privileges Required | None |
| User Interaction | None |
| Confidentiality Impact | High |
| Integrity Impact | High |
| Availability Impact | High |
Technical Description
The TrueBooker plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.6. This is due to the add_front_user_update() AJAX handler being registered for unauthenticated users and accepting an arbitrary truebooker_wp_user_id value, which is passed directly to wp_update_user() without verifying authentication or ownership. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change any WordPress user account email address, including an administrator, by submitting the target user ID and an attacker-controlled email address. An attacker can then use the native WordPress password reset flow to receive the reset link at the attacker-controlled email address and take over the account.
Potential Impact
If exploited, this critical-severity vulnerability could allow an attacker to compromise sensitive data confidentiality, tamper with system integrity, cause a denial of service. Organizations running affected software should treat this as a priority remediation item.
Recommended Action
No official patch is available yet. Until one is released:
- Monitor the official NVD page and vendor channels for patch announcements.
- Restrict access to the affected system or service where possible.
- Apply network-level mitigations such as firewall rules or WAF policies.
- Enable logging and alerting for anomalous activity related to this vulnerability.
- Review your incident response plan in case of active exploitation.
References
Related Security Advisories
- [HIGH] CVE-2025-71400 — CVSS 7.1 (August 2, 2026) — HIGH / CVSS 7.1
- [HIGH] CVE-2026-14165 — CVSS 7.5 (July 13, 2026) — HIGH / CVSS 7.5
- [CRITICAL] CVE-2025-41769 — CVSS 9.8 (August 12, 2026) — CRITICAL / CVSS 9.8
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