CVE-2026-11976 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2026-11976
Vulnerability Scoring

10.0
/10
Critical Risk

As a catastrophic security flaw, CVE-2026-11976 has severe implications, demanding immediate intervention.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Changed
    Successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2026-11976 Details

Status: Deferred

Last updated: 🕟 26 Aug 2026, 16:31 UTC
Originally published on: 🕙 06 Aug 2026, 22:16 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 19 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

contact@wpscan.com

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2026-11976 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2026-11976: The official MonsterInsights Pro update distribution bucket (`monster-insights.s3.amazonaws.com`) was compromised. Both the current release (10.2.2) and the version MonsterInsights rolled back to (10.2.0) contain a malicious file, `class-system-check.php`. Three distinct variants were observed on 2026-06-11, all sharing the same AES-256-GCM key, confirming a single threat actor. The attacker retains write access to the S3 bucket and has been actively iterating on the payload throughout the day.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2026-11976

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2026-11976 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2026-11976

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2026-11976 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-11976, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-11976, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2026-11976 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2026-11976 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2026-11976 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

CVE-2026-11976 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-912

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Try All Common Switches CAPEC-133 An attacker attempts to invoke all common switches and options in the target application for the purpose of discovering weaknesses in the target. For example, in some applications, adding a --debug switch causes debugging information to be displayed, which can sometimes reveal sensitive processing or configuration information to an attacker. This attack differs from other forms of API abuse in that the attacker is indiscriminately attempting to invoke options in the hope that one of them will work rather than specifically targeting a known option. Nonetheless, even if the attacker is familiar with the published options of a targeted application this attack method may still be fruitful as it might discover unpublicized functionality.
  • Reverse Engineer an Executable to Expose Assumed Hidden Functionality CAPEC-190 An attacker analyzes a binary file or executable for the purpose of discovering the structure, function, and possibly source-code of the file by using a variety of analysis techniques to effectively determine how the software functions and operates. This type of analysis is also referred to as Reverse Code Engineering, as techniques exist for extracting source code from an executable. Several techniques are often employed for this purpose, both black box and white box. The use of computer bus analyzers and packet sniffers allows the binary to be studied at a level of interactions with its computing environment, such as a host OS, inter-process communication, and/or network communication. This type of analysis falls into the 'black box' category because it involves behavioral analysis of the software without reference to source code, object code, or protocol specifications.

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