CVE-2026-94257: SMS Alert privilege escalation vulnerability
high 8.1 published 2026-10-10 · updated 2026-10-13
- Affected versions
- 3.9.6 up to (not including) 4.0.1
- Fixed in
- 4.0.1
- Latest version
- 4.0.3
- Severity
- High · CVSS 8.1
- Active installs
- 3,000+
- Type
- Privilege escalation
What an attacker needs
- Access: None. No account or login is needed.
CVSS vector (score by CISA ADP): CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
What to do now
- Update SMS Alert to 4.0.1 or newer (the latest is 4.0.3): 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 SMS Alert issue.
With WP-CLI:
wp plugin get sms-alert --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 SMS Alert WordPress plugin before 4.0.1 does not bind the account whose password is being changed to the phone number that was actually verified during its OTP password reset, allowing unauthenticated attackers to set a new password on an arbitrary account, including an administrator, by verifying a one-time code sent to a phone number they control.
References
- NVD CVE-2026-94257 nvd.nist.gov
- WPScan advisory wpscan.com
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/sms-alert (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.