Eventer: Authentication Bypass by Alternate Name
CVE-2026-9701 is a critical-severity authentication bypass by alternate name vulnerability in Eventer from Joe007, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Eventer versions: 4.4.2 and earlier. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.48% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of Eventer you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (wordfence.com).
Official description
The Eventer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to an insecure password reset mechanism in all versions up to, and including, 4.4.2. The plugin stores a plaintext copy of the password reset key in the `eventer_verification_code` user meta field when a user requests a password reset. The plaintext key stored in `wp_usermeta` can be used with the plugin's custom reset action to set a new password for any user. Combined with another vulnerability such as SQL Injection (CVE-2026-9700), this makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to extract the plaintext reset key and take over any user account, including administrators. Note: The password reset function only works up to PHP version 7.4.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Authentication Bypass by Alternate Name
The product performs authentication based on the name of a resource being accessed, or the name of the actor performing the access, but it does not properly check all possible names for that resource or actor.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Avoid making decisions based on names of resources (e.g. files) if those resources can have alternate names.
- Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.
More Authentication Bypass by Alternate Name vulnerabilities (CWE-289)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
References
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in Eventer
- 7.5 High severity
Recent Authentication Bypass by Alternate Name vulnerabilities
- 8.2 High severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.8 High severity
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