JSON API Auth <= 3.1.2 - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass via Cached 'generate_auth_cookie' Response
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-287.
Summary
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.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-97637
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-pmrp-gw7x-5x4r
- 2026-10-03 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
References
Other 7
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f2fdf8bf-7f53-4579-9a1f-be7b3ef1ca50?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/controllers/Auth.php#L66
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/controllers/Auth.php#L77
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/controllers/Auth.php#L28
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/json-api-auth.php#L65
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/json-api-auth/tags/3.1.2/controllers/Auth.php#L104
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3712939%40json-api-auth&new=3712939%40json-api-auth
More parorrey vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-06142 JSON API User <= 3.9.3 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-08455 JSON API User <= 4.1.0 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'content' Parameter CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.4
Sources
- CVE-2026-97637 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-97637 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-pmrp-gw7x-5x4r · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences