CVE-2026-12281Shibboleth < 2.5.4 - Unauthenticated Administrator Account Creation via Identity Header Spoofing
- 8.1HighCVSS base score
- 0.38%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 67% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
The Shibboleth WordPress plugin before 2.5.4 does not fail closed when its HTTP header identity mode is enabled without an anti-spoofing key, treating any request that carries identity headers as an authenticated session without verifying them. On a deployment where untrusted client headers reach the application, an unauthenticated attacker can log in with forged identity headers and, when automatic account creation and the default administrator role mapping are enabled, create and sign in as a new administrator. Exploitation requires the non-default HTTP header attribute mode, an empty or absent spoof key, automatic account creation enabled, and a deployment that does not strip untrusted client headers before they reach the application.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit.
Show the exploits1
References tagged exploit1 reference
- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/8474eda4-6385-447a-9139-f57c049d1713/ (opens in a new tab)exploitvdb-entrytechnical-description
Timeline
ID reserved
By WPScan
- 30 days later
· 30 days later
Published
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High8.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 3.1 | High8.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.38% · top 67% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.1.
Affected products
- affected < 2.5.4
References
References1
- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/8474eda4-6385-447a-9139-f57c049d1713/ (opens in a new tab)exploitvdb-entrytechnical-description
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-44594 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-12281)Record last updated .