Defender Security <= 4.0.2 — Hide Login Page Feature Protection Bypass
CVE-2023-5089Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: ≤4.0.2Update to 4.1.0 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- Medium5.3
- CVSS
- 5.3CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:NWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:NPrivileges required- None
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:NConfidentiality- None
I:LIntegrity- Low
A:NAvailability- None
- Required access
- No account needed
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall defender-security
- Affected≤ 4.0.2
- Patched in4.1.0
Update to 4.1.0 or newer.
You are affected if you run ≤ 4.0.2. Version 4.1.0 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
- No account is needed to exploit this. Treat any exposed site on an affected version as at risk.
What to do
- Update to version 4.1.0, or a newer patched version
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Juan Pablo Gomez Postigo.
The Defender Security plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to protection bypass in versions up to, and including, 4.0.2. This is due to the plugin failing to prevent redirects via the auth_redirect WordPress function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass the 'Hide Login Page' security feature.
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 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall
All 8| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| High7.2 | Authenticated (Administrator+) Remote Code Execution <6.2.0Update to 6.2.0 | CVE-2026-19225 | |
| Medium5.3 | Missing Authorization ≤4.7.2Update to 4.7.3 | CVE-2024-37444 | |
| Medium6.5 | IP Address Spoofing ≤4.4.1Update to 4.4.2 | CVE-2024-25595 | |
| Medium5.3 | Sensitive Information Exposure via Log File ≤4.1.0Update to 4.2.0 | CVE-2023-51490 | |
| Medium5.3 | Masked Login Area Security Feature Bypass ≤4.2.0Update to 4.2.1 | CVE-2023-47189 |
- High7.2Authenticated (Administrator+) Remote Code Execution
<6.2.0Update to 6.2.0
- Medium5.3Missing Authorization
≤4.7.2Update to 4.7.3
- Medium6.5IP Address Spoofing
≤4.4.1Update to 4.4.2
- Medium5.3Sensitive Information Exposure via Log File
≤4.1.0Update to 4.2.0
- Medium5.3Masked Login Area Security Feature Bypass
≤4.2.0Update to 4.2.1
Timeline
CVE published
Severity medium, CVSS 5.3
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.