CVE-2026-120040: Mail logging & Catcher information disclosure vulnerability
high 7.5 published 2026-10-31 · updated 2026-11-02
- Affected versions
- 2.2.0 and older
- Fixed in
- 2.3.0 *
- Latest version
- 2.3.0
- Severity
- High · CVSS 7.5
- Active installs
- 20,000+
- Type
- Information disclosure
* The source does not name a fixed version; this is the first wordpress.org release after the last affected version.
What an attacker needs
- Access: A logged-in account with Subscriber-level access or higher.
CVSS vector (score by Wordfence): CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
What to do now
- Update Mail logging & Catcher to 2.3.0 or newer: Dashboard → Updates, or Plugins → “update now”.
- If you cannot update right away, deactivate it until you can.
- Turn on auto-updates for it: Plugins → “Enable auto-updates” on its row.
- Not sure which version you run? Check your version against every known Mail logging & Catcher issue.
With WP-CLI:
wp plugin get wp-mail-catcher --field=version. - If you ran an affected version and something looks off (new admin users, spam pages, redirects), run the free scan below.
The advisory
The Mail logging & Catcher plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 2.2.0 via the 'message' parameter. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to extract valid administrator password-reset keys from stored email logs and complete the WordPress password-reset flow to escalate privileges to administrator. Exploitation requires an administrator to have previously configured the plugin's default_view_role setting to a capability held by low-privileged users such as 'read'; on an untouched install the default of 'manage_options' restricts log access to administrators only.
References
- NVD CVE-2026-120040 nvd.nist.gov
- Wordfence advisory www.wordfence.com
- github.com github.com
- Plugin source plugins.trac.wordpress.org
Related
Ran an affected version? Check your site for signs of a hack
The free scan reads the public side of your site and looks for spam pages, hidden redirects, injected scripts and blacklist entries. No login, no install, about a minute.
Where this data comes from
- CVE record, score and references: NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), checked 2026-11-04. This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Versions and install counts: wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-catcher (Plugins API), fetched 2026-11-04.
- The summary, “what an attacker needs” and “what to do” sections are our plain-English reading of the record and the plugin's release history; the quoted description is the record's own text. Spot an error? Email Daniel.