CVE-2026-96228: SSL Wireless SMS Notification authentication bypass vulnerability
high 8.1 plugin closed published 2026-10-29
- Affected versions
- 3.8.1 and older
- Fixed in
- unknown
- Severity
- High · CVSS 8.1
- Active installs
- closed
- Type
- Authentication bypass
What an attacker needs
- Access: None. No account or login is needed.
CVSS vector (score by Wordfence): CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
What to do now
- Replace SSL Wireless SMS Notification. A closed plugin gets no updates through WordPress, so this hole stays open.
- Deactivate and delete it once you have a replacement (Plugins → Deactivate → Delete). Deactivating alone leaves its files on the server.
- Not sure which version you run? Check your version against every known SSL Wireless SMS Notification issue.
- If you ran an affected version and something looks off (new admin users, spam pages, redirects), run the free scan below.
The advisory
SSL Wireless SMS Notification for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 3.8.1. The public final_login_ajax_action handler resolves a user and issues an authenticated session by matching the wp_sslcare_otp table on only the attacker-supplied phone and cap_data, without verifying the SMS OTP or any server-side single-use state. Because cap_data was chosen by the attacker in the public otp_login_ajax_action step (which stores the row before sending the SMS), the finalize step trivially matches and the user is looked up solely by the sslcare_login_phone meta. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers who know a phone-linked user's number to take over that account.
References
- NVD CVE-2026-96228 nvd.nist.gov
- Wordfence advisory www.wordfence.com
- Wordfence advisory www.wordfence.com
- plugins.svn.wordpress.org plugins.svn.wordpress.org
Related
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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/ssl-wireless-sms-notification (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.