CVE-2026-19801

What it is

The BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.0. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to create arbitrary BetterLinks short URLs with attacker-controlled slugs and redirect destinations, enabling phishing and SEO abuse. Exploitation requires the Fluent Boards companion plugin to be installed and active (so that the FLUENT_BOARDS constant is defined), and is further facilitated by the betterlinks_admin_nonce nonce being emitted on every frontend page via wp_localize_script, making it accessible to any authenticated user.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network with a low-privilege account. Limited direct impact.

Exploit odds

0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.

Timeline

1. 2026-08-25 02:16 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-10-12 15:10 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.4% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 4.3 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: none linked yet, which raises it.

Details

Published

2026-08-25 02:16 UTC

Last modified

2026-10-12 15:10 UTC

Exploit probability

0.4% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-862 · Missing authorization

Record status

Deferred

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 4.3

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-19801.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-19801. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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