Medium severity5.3NVD Advisory· Published Jul 28, 2026· Updated Jul 28, 2026
CVE-2026-16774
CVE-2026-16774
Description
The Chatbot plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in versions up to, and including, 8.5.9 via the wpcs_send_email() AJAX handler. This is due to the wpcs_send_email() function being registered on both wp_ajax_wpcs_send_email and wp_ajax_nopriv_wpcs_send_email with no nonce verification, capability check, or rate limiting, while forwarding attacker-controlled recipient, subject, and body directly to wp_mail(). This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to send arbitrary emails to any recipient from the site's domain, enabling spam, phishing, and abuse that can lead to the site's IP/domain being blacklisted.
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
Affected products
1Patches
Vulnerability mechanics
References
5- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/chatbot/tags/8.5.9/includes/chat-sessions/wpbot-chat-sessions.phpnvd
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/chatbot/tags/8.5.9/includes/chat-sessions/wpbot-chat-sessions.phpnvd
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/chatbot/tags/8.5.9/includes/chat-sessions/wpbot-chat-sessions.phpnvd
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changesetnvd
- www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3cc6aa06-ab2a-4d5c-bbbe-4c19722ccc53nvd
News mentions
2- Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (August 3, 2026 to August 9, 2026)Wordfence Blog · Aug 14, 2026
- Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (July 27, 2026 to August 2, 2026)Wordfence Blog · Aug 8, 2026