Description
The User Session Synchronizer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass leading to Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.0. The `synchronize_session()` function, hooked on `init` and therefore executed on every request, performs no nonce, capability, or shared-secret validation against the attacker-supplied `ussync-key`, `ussync-token`, and `ussync-ref` parameters; when `ussync-key` references an unregistered slot, `get_option()` returns `false` for both the secret key and the domain list, causing the AES-256-CBC encryption key to degrade to the fully predictable `md5('')` and the referer allowlist to collapse to an empty-string match, while the AES IV is unconditionally hard-coded as `md5('another-secret')`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to supply a crafted request encrypting any known or guessable user email address in the `ussync-ref` parameter, causing the handler to call `wp_set_auth_cookie()` for the matched user and granting full authentication as that user — including administrators — with no prior knowledge of site secrets.
References7
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/user-session-synchronizer/ta…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/user-session-synchronizer/ta…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/user-session-synchronizer/ta…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/user-session-synchronizer/ta…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/user-session-synchronizer/ta…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/user-session-synchronizer/ta…
- www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/cbc32e6d-47c5…
Metrics
- CVSS 3.1
-
9.8
CRITICAL
Score source: CNA
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - EPSS — exploit probability
- 1% percentile: 48 · as of 12 November 2026
- CWE
- CWE-287
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