📄 Description (English)
The Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 6.8.1. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to overwrite the post_title and post_content of any post bound to a publicly accessible acf_form() instance by injecting values into the _post_title and _post_content parameters of a form submission request.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
The Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) WordPress plugin versions up to 6.8.1 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability allowing unauthenticated attackers to modify post content through parameter injection in publicly accessible forms. This affects any WordPress site using ACF with exposed form instances, potentially enabling content manipulation, defacement, and information disclosure. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 5.3 (medium) but poses significant risk to organizations relying on WordPress for critical content management.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: May 31, 2026 08:49
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
Saudi organizations at highest risk include: Government agencies using WordPress for public portals and content management (NCA, MCIT), media and news organizations, educational institutions, and e-commerce platforms. Banking and financial institutions using WordPress for customer-facing content are also vulnerable. The vulnerability could enable defacement of official government websites, manipulation of public announcements, unauthorized modification of educational content, and compromise of e-commerce product information. Saudi critical infrastructure operators should assess WordPress deployments for ACF usage immediately.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government and Public Administration
Media and News Organizations
Education and Universities
E-commerce and Retail
Banking and Financial Services
Healthcare and Medical Institutions
Telecommunications
Energy and Utilities
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
6.8
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
Immediate Actions:
1. Audit all WordPress installations for ACF plugin presence and version (6.8.1 and below are vulnerable)
2. Identify publicly accessible acf_form() instances and temporarily disable or restrict access
3. Review post modification logs for unauthorized changes to post_title and post_content fields
4. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block requests containing _post_title and _post_content parameters from unauthenticated sources
Patching Guidance:
1. Monitor ACF official repository for security patch release (currently no patch available)
2. When patch is released, immediately update to patched version
3. Test patches in staging environment before production deployment
Compensating Controls:
1. Restrict acf_form() visibility to authenticated users only via WordPress user roles
2. Implement additional authorization checks in custom code before form processing
3. Use WordPress security plugins (Wordfence, Sucuri) to monitor file modifications
4. Enable WordPress audit logging to track post modifications
5. Implement IP whitelisting for form submission endpoints if possible
6. Use Content Security Policy headers to prevent unauthorized form submissions
Detection Rules:
1. Monitor POST requests containing parameters: _post_title, _post_content
2. Alert on post modifications from unauthenticated sessions
3. Track changes to posts associated with acf_form instances
4. Monitor for unusual form submission patterns from non-standard user agents
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تدقيق جميع تثبيتات WordPress للتحقق من وجود مكون ACF والإصدار (6.8.1 والإصدارات الأقدم معرضة للخطر)
2. تحديد نماذج acf_form() المتاحة للجمهور وتعطيلها مؤقتاً أو تقييد الوصول إليها
3. مراجعة سجلات تعديل المنشورات للتحقق من التغييرات غير المصرح بها
4. تنفيذ قواعد جدار الحماية لحجب الطلبات التي تحتوي على معاملات _post_title و _post_content من مصادر غير مصرح بها
إرشادات التصحيح:
1. مراقبة مستودع ACF الرسمي لإصدار تصحيح أمني (لا يوجد تصحيح متاح حالياً)
2. عند إصدار التصحيح، قم بالتحديث الفوري إلى الإصدار المصحح
3. اختبر التصحيحات في بيئة التطوير قبل النشر في الإنتاج
الضوابط البديلة:
1. قصر رؤية acf_form() على المستخدمين المصرح لهم فقط عبر أدوار WordPress
2. تنفيذ فحوصات تفويض إضافية في الكود المخصص قبل معالجة النموذج
3. استخدام مكونات أمان WordPress (Wordfence, Sucuri) لمراقبة تعديلات الملفات
4. تفعيل تسجيل تدقيق WordPress لتتبع تعديلات المنشورات
5. تنفيذ قائمة بيضاء للعناوين IP لنقاط نهاية إرسال النماذج إن أمكن
6. استخدام رؤوس سياسة أمان المحتوى لمنع إرسال النماذج غير المصرح بها
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة طلبات POST التي تحتوي على معاملات: _post_title, _post_content
2. تنبيه عند تعديل المنشورات من جلسات غير مصرح بها
3. تتبع التغييرات على المنشورات المرتبطة بنماذج acf_form
4. مراقبة أنماط إرسال النماذج غير العادية من وكلاء المستخدم غير القياسيين
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
A.5.1.1 - Information Security Policies and Procedures
A.6.1.2 - User Access Management
A.7.1.1 - Physical and Environmental Security
A.8.1.1 - Cryptography and Data Protection
A.9.1.1 - Access Control
A.12.1.1 - Change Management
A.12.2.1 - Vulnerability Management
🔵 SAMA CSF
Governance and Risk Management - Risk Assessment and Management
Information and Communications Technology - Security Architecture and Design
Information and Communications Technology - Access Control and Authentication
Information and Communications Technology - Vulnerability Management
Information and Communications Technology - Incident Management
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
5.1 - Policies for information security
6.1 - Information security roles and responsibilities
6.2 - Information security competence
8.1 - Operational planning and control
8.2 - Supply chain relationships
8.3 - Information and communication
8.6 - Control of changes
A.5.1 - Policies for information security
A.6.1 - Information security roles and responsibilities
A.8.1 - User endpoint devices
A.8.2 - Privileged access rights
A.8.3 - Information access restriction
A.8.6 - Access control for change management
A.12.6 - Management of technical vulnerabilities
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0.1
Requirement 1.1 - Firewall configuration standards
Requirement 6.2 - Security patches and updates
Requirement 6.5 - Secure coding practices
Requirement 7.1 - Limit access to system components
Requirement 8.1 - User identification and authentication
🔗 References & Sources 3
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https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/advanced-custom-fields/tags/6.8.0/includes/f...
security@wordfence.com
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3549586/advanced-custom-fields/trunk/inclu...
security@wordfence.com
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ddb2290d-d4bd-4f70-9fe9-927f4...
security@wordfence.com