CVE-2026-24587: 
WordPress vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2026-24587 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the AJAX Hits Counter + Popular Posts Widget WordPress plugin (slug: ajax-hits-counter) developed by kutsy. The flaw allows authenticated attackers with low-level privileges to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels. All versions up to and including 0.10.210305 are affected. It was published on January 23, 2026, and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.4 (Medium), assigned by Patchstack (Patchstack).

The vulnerability is classified as CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), meaning the plugin fails to properly verify whether a requesting user has the necessary permissions before executing sensitive AJAX actions. An authenticated attacker with low privileges (e.g., a subscriber-level WordPress account) can send crafted requests to the plugin's AJAX endpoints to perform actions that should be restricted to higher-privileged roles. No complex conditions or user interaction are required for exploitation, as the attack vector is network-accessible with low attack complexity (Patchstack).

Successful exploitation results in limited but meaningful integrity and availability impacts on the affected WordPress site. An attacker can manipulate hit counter data or popular posts widget content (integrity impact) and potentially disrupt the plugin's normal operation (availability impact). Confidentiality is not directly impacted according to the CVSS assessment. The scope is limited to the affected WordPress installation and does not extend to the underlying server or other systems (Patchstack).

No public proof-of-concept exploit code or evidence of in-the-wild exploitation has been reported for this vulnerability. The EPSS score is extremely low at 0.000080 (approximately 0.008%), indicating a very low probability of exploitation in the near term. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. Exploitation requires at minimum a low-privileged authenticated account on the target WordPress site, which limits the attacker pool (Feedly).

1. Reconnaissance: Identify WordPress sites running the AJAX Hits Counter + Popular Posts Widget plugin version ≤ 0.10.210305 using tools like WPScan or by inspecting page source for plugin references.
2. Obtain low-privilege access: Register or obtain a low-privileged account (e.g., subscriber) on the target WordPress site, or use existing credentials.
3. Identify unprotected AJAX endpoints: Enumerate the plugin's registered AJAX actions (typically via wp-admin/admin-ajax.php) that lack proper capability checks.
4. Craft malicious request: Send a crafted POST request to the vulnerable AJAX endpoint with the appropriate action parameter, bypassing the missing authorization check.
5. Achieve objective: Manipulate hit counter values, alter popular posts rankings, or trigger unintended plugin behavior to achieve the attacker's goal (e.g., content manipulation or disruption) (Patchstack).

• Network: Unusual or repeated POST requests to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action parameters associated with the ajax-hits-counter plugin from low-privileged user sessions.
• Logs: WordPress access logs showing authenticated requests to AJAX endpoints that are not consistent with normal subscriber-level activity; unexpected changes to hit counter or popular posts data in the database.
• File System: No file-system artifacts are expected for this vulnerability type, as exploitation is purely request-based.
• Database: Anomalous or artificially inflated hit counts or popular posts rankings in the WordPress database tables associated with the plugin.

The primary remediation is to update the AJAX Hits Counter + Popular Posts Widget plugin to a version beyond 0.10.210305 if a patched release is available from the plugin author (kutsy). If no patched version is available, site administrators should consider deactivating and removing the plugin until a fix is released. As a general hardening measure, restrict WordPress user registration to trusted individuals and enforce the principle of least privilege for all user roles. Monitor AJAX endpoint activity for anomalous patterns (Patchstack).