CVE-2026-2712

low-risk
Published 2026-04-10

The WP-Optimize plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of functionality due to missing capability checks in the `receive_heartbeat()` function in `includes/class-wp-optimize-heartbeat.php` in all versions up to, and including, 4.5.0. This is due to the Heartbeat handler directly invoking `Updraft_Smush_Manager_Commands` methods without verifying user capabilities, nonce tokens, or the allowed commands whitelist that the normal AJAX handler (`updraft_smush_ajax`) enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to invoke admin-only Smush operations including reading log files (`get_smush_logs`), deleting all backup images (`clean_all_backup_images`), triggering bulk image processing (`process_bulk_smush`), and modifying Smush options (`update_smush_options`).

Do I need to act?

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0.04% chance of exploitation
EPSS score — low exploit probability
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Not on CISA KEV list
No confirmed active exploitation reported to CISA
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Patch status unknown
Check vendor advisories for fix availability and mitigation guidance
5
CVSS 5.4/10 Medium
NETWORK / LOW complexity
26
/ 100
low-risk
Severity 21/34 · High
Exploitability 0/34 · Minimal
Exposure 5/34 · Minimal