Contact Form 7 <= 5.0.3 — Authorization Bypass
CVE-2018-20979Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: <5.0.4Update to 5.0.4 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- Medium6.3
- CVSS
- 6.3CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:LWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:LPrivileges required- Low
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:LConfidentiality- Low
I:LIntegrity- Low
A:LAvailability- Low
- Weakness
- CWE-285 Improper Authorization
- Required access
- Unknown
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
Contact Form 7 contact-form-7
- Affected< 5.0.4
- Patched in5.0.4
Update to 5.0.4 or newer.
You are affected if you run < 5.0.4. Version 5.0.4 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Contact Form 7.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
What to do
- Update to version 5.0.4, or a newer patched version
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch Contact Form 7 to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Simon Scannell.
The Contact Form 7 plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to capability_type mishandling in register_post_type in versions up to, and including, 5.0.3. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with contributor level privileges and above to modify contact forms and potential supply paths to sensitive files that make sensitive information disclosure possible.
Exploits & references
Proof-of-concept & detection
No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.
Advisories & patches
- Advisorywordfence.com
Related CVEs
More in Contact Form 7
All 10| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical9.8 | 6.2.3 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload 6.2 – 6.2.3Update to 6.2.4 | CVE-2026-114432 | |
| Critical9.8 | 6.2.3 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload 6.2 – 6.2.3Update to 6.2.4 | — | |
| Medium5.3 | Order Replay Vulnerability ≤6.0.5Update to 6.0.6 | CVE-2025-3247 | |
| Medium6.1 | Unauthenticated Open Redirect ≤5.9.4Update to 5.9.5 | CVE-2024-4704 | |
| Medium6.1 | Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ≤5.9Update to 5.9.2 | CVE-2024-2242 |
- Critical9.86.2.3 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload
6.2 – 6.2.3Update to 6.2.4
- Critical9.86.2.3 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload
6.2 – 6.2.3Update to 6.2.4
- Medium5.3Order Replay Vulnerability
≤6.0.5Update to 6.0.6
- Medium6.1Unauthenticated Open Redirect
≤5.9.4Update to 5.9.5
- Medium6.1Reflected Cross-Site Scripting
≤5.9Update to 5.9.2
Timeline
CVE published
Severity medium, CVSS 6.3
Record last updated
Sources & licenses
Wordfence record- Vulnerability data
- Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0.
- CVE® identifiers
- Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. Used under the CVE Program. CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
- CVSS / CWE
- National Vulnerability Database (NVD), shown unmodified. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- VulnCrest content
- Summary, remediation guidance and page layout © VulnCrest. Not sourced from NVD.