CVE-2026-41471: WordPress PayPal Plugin Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2026-41471 Overview

CVE-2026-41471 is an information disclosure vulnerability in the Easy PayPal Events & Tickets plugin for WordPress, affecting versions 1.3 and earlier. The flaw resides in the scan_qr.php endpoint, which fails to enforce authentication or authorization checks before returning order data. Unauthenticated attackers can iterate sequential WordPress post IDs to harvest the complete set of customer order records stored in the database. The weakness is classified as Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key [CWE-639]. The plugin was officially closed on the WordPress plugin directory as of 2026-03-18, meaning no vendor patch will be released.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote attackers can enumerate and exfiltrate every customer order record, including personally identifiable information tied to event ticket purchases.

Affected Products

• Easy PayPal Events & Tickets plugin for WordPress, version 1.3
• Easy PayPal Events & Tickets plugin for WordPress, all versions earlier than 1.3
• WordPress sites with the plugin still installed after its 2026-03-18 closure

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-18 - Plugin officially closed on the WordPress plugin directory
• 2026-05-04 - CVE-2026-41471 published to NVD
• 2026-05-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-41471

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability lives in the QR code scanning endpoint shipped with the plugin. The scan_qr.php script accepts an order identifier supplied by the client and returns the matching order record without verifying the requester's identity or scope. Because WordPress assigns sequential post IDs to objects stored in wp_posts, an attacker can simply iterate IDs from 1 upward and retrieve any order linked to the plugin. The exposed records include data captured during PayPal-driven ticket checkout flows, such as buyer names, email addresses, event details, and transaction metadata.

Root Cause

The root cause is a missing authorization check on a user-controlled key, the canonical pattern described in [CWE-639]. The endpoint conflates possession of an order identifier with authorization to read it. Because identifiers are predictable WordPress post IDs rather than unguessable tokens, the access model collapses entirely. The plugin also exposes the endpoint directly through the public WordPress URL space, making it reachable without any session, nonce, or capability check.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires only network access to the WordPress site hosting the plugin. An attacker issues HTTP requests to scan_qr.php while incrementing the order ID parameter and parses the JSON or HTML response returned for each valid ID. No credentials, user interaction, or prior reconnaissance of order identifiers is required. The attack is fully automatable with standard HTTP tooling and produces a complete dump of order data within minutes against typical deployments. Technical reproduction details are documented in the VulnCheck Advisory on QR Code and the GitHub Gist PoC.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-41471

Indicators of Compromise

• Repeated HTTP GET requests to scan_qr.php with sequentially incrementing ID parameters from a single source IP
• Web server access logs showing high-volume 200 OK responses from scan_qr.php outside normal event check-in windows
• Requests to scan_qr.php originating from user agents associated with HTTP clients such as curl, python-requests, or Go-http-client

Detection Strategies

• Build a web application firewall (WAF) rule that flags more than N requests per minute to scan_qr.php from any single client
• Correlate access log entries against legitimate ticket scanner devices and geolocations to surface anomalous sources
• Hunt for response payloads from scan_qr.php that contain order data being returned to unauthenticated sessions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Forward WordPress access logs and PHP error logs to a centralized SIEM for retention and querying
• Alert on any HTTP request to plugin paths under /wp-content/plugins/easy-paypal-events-tickets/ after the plugin has been removed
• Track outbound traffic volume from the web server to detect bulk data exfiltration following enumeration activity

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-41471

Immediate Actions Required

• Deactivate and uninstall the Easy PayPal Events & Tickets plugin from all WordPress sites where it is present
• Block external access to scan_qr.php at the web server or WAF layer until the plugin is removed
• Review web server logs for prior enumeration activity and notify affected customers if order data was exposed

Patch Information

No patch is available. The plugin was closed on the WordPress plugin directory on 2026-03-18, and the vendor has not issued a fixed release. Site operators should treat the plugin as end-of-life and migrate to a maintained alternative for event ticketing. Refer to the WordPress Plugin Information page for the current closure status.

Workarounds

• Restrict access to scan_qr.php by IP allowlist for known ticket scanner devices using web server configuration
• Place the WordPress site behind authentication for the affected endpoint via .htaccess or Nginx auth_basic directives
• Rotate or invalidate any order tokens and PayPal transaction references that may have been exposed prior to remediation

# Apache .htaccess example to deny external access to the vulnerable endpoint
<Files "scan_qr.php">
    Require ip 192.0.2.0/24
</Files>