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Vulnerability record · CVE-2023-28121 · published 12 April 2023

CVE-2023-28121: WooCommerce Payments authentication bypass grants admin access

Automattic · Woocommerce Payments

The WooCommerce Payments plugin for WordPress (versions 5.6.1 and lower) contains an improper authentication flaw (CWE-287). An unauthenticated attacker can send requests on behalf of an elevated user, such as an administrator, and gain admin access on any site running the affected plugin version.

9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical EPSS 87% · top 0.3% CWE-287 · Improper authentication
9.8CVSS 3.1 base score
87%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
2Affected product versions listed by NVD
4References
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

An issue in WooCommerce Payments plugin for WordPress (versions 5.6.1 and lower) allows an unauthenticated attacker to send requests on behalf of an elevated user, like administrator. This allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to gain admin access on a site that has the affected version of the plugin activated.

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

Automated analysis

Generated by VULONE's analysis model from the NVD record, CISA KEV and EPSS data on 18 September 2026. Confidence: high.

critical priorityCVSS 9.8 with no authentication or user interaction required and an EPSS above the 99th percentile makes this an urgent, remotely exploitable admin takeover.

What it is

The WooCommerce Payments plugin for WordPress (versions 5.6.1 and lower) contains an improper authentication flaw (CWE-287). An unauthenticated attacker can send requests on behalf of an elevated user, such as an administrator, and gain admin access on any site running the affected plugin version.

Impact

An attacker gains full administrative control of the WordPress site, enabling complete compromise of site content, users, and configuration. Because the plugin handles payments, admin access also exposes customer and transaction data.

Attack surface

Reachable remotely over the network via HTTP requests to the WordPress site; no authentication and no user interaction are required, per the CVSS vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N.

Exploitation

Not listed in CISA KEV, but EPSS is 0.8651 (99.7th percentile), indicating very high predicted exploitation activity; references include a vendor advisory and a public patch-diffing writeup.

What to do

  • Update the WooCommerce Payments plugin to a version above 5.6.1 immediately.
  • If patching cannot be done at once, deactivate the plugin until it can be updated.
  • Audit WordPress administrator accounts and remove any unauthorized admin users.
  • Rotate WordPress admin credentials, salts, and any API keys or payment gateway secrets.
  • Review site logs for unauthorized administrative actions or plugin/theme changes.

Detection

  • Search web server logs for requests to WooCommerce Payments REST endpoints from unauthenticated or unexpected sources.
  • Monitor for new or modified administrator accounts and privilege changes in WordPress audit logs.
  • Alert on unexpected plugin activation, option changes, or file modifications in wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-payments.
  • Correlate payment-related endpoint access with subsequent admin-level activity in the same session or IP.

This assessment is produced automatically and is not human-reviewed. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting on it.

Affected products

2 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://developer.woocommerce.com/2023/03/23/critical-vulnerability-detected-in-woocommerce-payments-what-you-need-to-kn Vendor Advisory
https://www.rcesecurity.com/2023/07/patch-diffing-cve-2023-28121-to-compromise-a-woocommerce/
https://developer.woocommerce.com/2023/03/23/critical-vulnerability-detected-in-woocommerce-payments-what-you-need-to-kn Vendor Advisory
https://www.rcesecurity.com/2023/07/patch-diffing-cve-2023-28121-to-compromise-a-woocommerce/

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2023-28121), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.