Medium severity · published Apr 10, 2026
CVE-2026-2712
WP-Optimize <= 4.5.0 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Plugin Settings Update and Image Manipulation
5.4
CVSS
0.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
The WP-Optimize plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of functionality due to missing capability checks in the `receive_heartbeat()` function in `includes/class-wp-optimize-heartbeat.php` in all versions up to, and including, 4.5.0. This is due to the Heartbeat handler directly invoking `Updraft_Smush_Manager_Commands` methods without verifying user capabilities, nonce tokens, or the allowed commands whitelist that the normal AJAX handler (`updraft_smush_ajax`) enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to invoke admin-only Smush operations including reading log files (`get_smush_logs`), deleting all backup images (`clean_all_backup_images`), triggering bulk image processing (`process_bulk_smush`), and modifying Smush options (`update_smush_options`).
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.4% · higher than 37% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
WC
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance · davidanderson
through 4.5.0 · source: vendor
Affected product
WC
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance
davidanderson
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-2712
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-2712
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/tags/4.4.1/includes/class-wp-optimize-heartbeat.php#L65
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/tags/4.4.1/includes/class-wp-optimize-heartbeat.php#L82
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-optimize/trunk/includes/class-wp-optimize-heartbeat.php#L65
research.cleantalk.org
https://research.cleantalk.org/cve-2026-2712/
www.wordfence.com
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6a0a376e-ea3a-40ca-9341-f28f92e15e02?source=cve
More from WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance
8.1
CVE-2026-7252
WP-Optimize <= 4.5.2 - Authenticated (Author+) Arbitrary File Deletion via 'original-file' Post Meta
