CVE-2026-22348: Civic Cookie Control Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2026-22348 Overview

CVE-2026-22348 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] affecting the Tasos Fel Civic Cookie Control plugin (civic-cookie-control-8) for WordPress. The flaw stems from incorrectly configured access control security levels, allowing unauthenticated network attackers to access functionality that should require proper authorization. Affected versions include all releases up to and including 1.53. The issue results in limited integrity impact without affecting confidentiality or availability of the WordPress site.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit broken access control over the network to perform actions that should be restricted to authorized users on WordPress sites running vulnerable versions of the Civic Cookie Control plugin.

Affected Products

Tasos Fel Civic Cookie Control plugin for WordPress (civic-cookie-control-8)
All plugin versions from initial release through 1.53
WordPress installations with the plugin enabled

Discovery Timeline

2026-01-22 - CVE-2026-22348 published to NVD
2026-04-28 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-22348

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is classified as Missing Authorization under [CWE-862]. The Civic Cookie Control plugin exposes functionality without verifying that the requesting user has the appropriate permissions. Attackers reach the affected endpoints over the network without authentication or user interaction.

The impact is limited to integrity. Attackers can modify plugin-controlled state or settings, but the vulnerability does not directly expose sensitive data or cause service disruption. The attack complexity is low, meaning successful exploitation does not depend on specific configurations or timing.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System data indicates a low probability of exploitation in the near term, and no public proof-of-concept or in-the-wild activity has been reported at this time.

Root Cause

The root cause is an absent or improperly configured capability check within the plugin's request handlers. WordPress plugins must verify user capabilities using functions such as current_user_can() and validate nonces before performing privileged actions. The Civic Cookie Control plugin fails to enforce these checks on at least one accessible action, permitting unauthorized callers to invoke it.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends crafted HTTP requests to the WordPress site hosting the vulnerable plugin. Because the access control logic does not verify the caller's role or capabilities, the plugin processes the request as if it came from an authorized user. No credentials, session tokens, or user interaction are required. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Advisory for additional technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-22348

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected modifications to Civic Cookie Control plugin settings or configuration entries in the WordPress database.
HTTP requests to admin-ajax.php or plugin-specific endpoints originating from unauthenticated sessions.
Anomalous changes in cookie consent banner behavior or configuration without administrator action.

Detection Strategies

Review WordPress access logs for POST requests targeting Civic Cookie Control plugin endpoints from IP addresses without authenticated user sessions.
Inspect the WordPress wp_options table and plugin-specific tables for unauthorized configuration changes.
Correlate plugin modification events with the absence of corresponding administrator login activity.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging to capture plugin configuration changes with user attribution.
Deploy a web application firewall ruleset to flag unauthenticated requests to plugin administrative actions.
Monitor for the installed plugin version using site inventory tools and alert when civic-cookie-control-8 <= 1.53 is detected.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-22348

Immediate Actions Required

Identify all WordPress instances running the Civic Cookie Control plugin and confirm the installed version.
Upgrade the plugin to a version newer than 1.53 once the vendor publishes a fix.
Restrict access to WordPress administrative endpoints from untrusted networks where feasible.

Patch Information

At the time of publication, the Civic Cookie Control plugin is reported vulnerable through version 1.53. Administrators should monitor the Patchstack Vulnerability Advisory and the official WordPress plugin repository for an updated release that adds proper authorization checks.

Workarounds

Disable and remove the Civic Cookie Control plugin until a patched version is available, substituting an alternative cookie consent solution if needed.
Apply web application firewall rules that block unauthenticated requests to the plugin's action endpoints.
Limit access to /wp-admin/ and admin-ajax.php using network-level IP allowlisting where operationally viable.

bash

# Configuration example - identify vulnerable plugin version via WP-CLI
wp plugin list --name=civic-cookie-control-8 --fields=name,status,version

# Deactivate the plugin pending an upstream fix
wp plugin deactivate civic-cookie-control-8