Auth bypass in Wpengine Faustjs

CVE-2026-54239

Faust.js is a headless WordPress toolkit. Prior to 1.8.11, the FaustWP WordPress plugin authenticates only the ciphertext in its token envelope and excludes the 16-byte initialization vector from the HMAC in WPE\FaustWP\Auth\encrypt() and WPE\FaustWP\Auth\decrypt() in plugins/faustwp/includes/auth/functions.php. A logged-in non-administrator who obtains an authorization code from GET /generate can modify the unauthenticated initialization vector so that CBC decryption changes the token type and user identifier while the HMAC remains valid. This can produce an access token for an Administrator and permit full WordPress REST API access, administrator-account creation, plugin installation, and arbitrary code execution. This issue is fixed in repository version 1.8.11.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (25.4th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 25th percentile — 25.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-54239: held from 0.003 to 0.003.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-54239?
CVE-2026-54239 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wpengine Faustjs, classified under Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-09-17.
How severe is CVE-2026-54239?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.