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9.8

WordPress JSON API Auth can expose admin login cookie

CVE-2026-97637 · published 17 days ago
Summary

The JSON API Auth plugin for WordPress may cache a response that contains an administrator's login cookie. An unauthenticated user can retrieve this cached response and gain full admin access to the site. Update the plugin to the latest version or disable the Auth controller to stop the issue.

What to do

The CVE record does not list a fixed version. Check the vendor's site or the advisory links below - a fix may already be released.

Affected software
VendorProductAffected versions
parorrey json api auth <= 3.1.2
Original advisory text
JSON API Auth <= 3.1.2 - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass via Cached 'generate_auth_cookie' Response
The JSON API Auth plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass via Cached Session Cookie Disclosure in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.2. The vulnerability exists because the required PI-Media/json-api parent plugin caches controller dispatch results in transients keyed solely by URI and query string, ignoring HTTP method and POST body; this causes the `generate_auth_cookie()` endpoint — which embeds a live WordPress `logged_in` cookie produced by `wp_generate_auth_cookie()` directly in its JSON response body — to serve that cached authenticated response to any subsequent unauthenticated GET request to the same URI. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to retrieve a valid Administrator `logged_in` session cookie from the cached response and use it to fully authenticate as the site Administrator, including via the same plugin's `get_currentuserinfo` endpoint and any cookie-authenticated controller action. Exploitation requires the PI-Media/json-api parent plugin to be installed and active with the Auth controller enabled, and a legitimate Administrator must have POSTed to `/api/auth/generate_auth_cookie/` within the preceding 24-hour cache TTL; the nominal HTTPS enforcement gate present in `Auth.php` is trivially bypassed by supplying `insecure=cool` as a request parameter.
References
Fix within
Internet-facing 3 days
Internal 60 days
  • Not known to be exploited
  • Can be exploited automatically
  • Gives an attacker full control
Severity
9.8 Critical
Exploitation
<1% chance of attack within 30 days
Type
CWE-287Improper Authentication
Timeline
Published2 Oct 2026
Updated15 Oct 2026
First seen2 Oct 2026
Sources
CVE-2026-97637 · NVD
CVE-2026-97637 · MITRE
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