9.8
CRITICAL CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-97637
JSON API Auth <= 3.1.2 - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass via Cached 'generate_auth_cookie' Response
Description

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.

INFO

Published Date :

Oct. 2, 2026, 8:17 a.m.

Last Modified :

Oct. 2, 2026, 8:17 a.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-97637 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

No affected product recoded yet

CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 CRITICAL MITRE-CVE
CVSS 3.1 CRITICAL [email protected]
Solution
Update the JSON API Auth plugin to the latest version to fix the authentication bypass vulnerability.
  • Update the JSON API Auth WordPress plugin.
  • Verify the plugin update resolves the issue.
  • Remove any cached responses if applicable.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-97637 is associated with the following CWEs:

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-97637 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-97637 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Oct. 02, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description 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.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Added CWE CWE-287
    Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/97xxx/CVE-2026-97637.json">CVE-2026-97637</a>
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/controllers/Auth.php#L104
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/controllers/Auth.php#L28
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/controllers/Auth.php#L66
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/controllers/Auth.php#L77
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/json-api-auth.php#L65
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3712939%40json-api-auth&new=3712939%40json-api-auth
    Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f2fdf8bf-7f53-4579-9a1f-be7b3ef1ca50?source=cve
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.