WordPress NEAR Plugin Authentication Bypass via Substring Validation

The Login with NEAR plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 0.3.3. The `ajaxLoginWithNear()` function — registered as a `wp_ajax_nopriv` action and therefore reachable by unauthenticated users — accepts an attacker-supplied `account` POST parameter and issues a valid WordPress authentication cookie based solely on a substring check for `.near`, with no nonce verification, cryptographic signature validation, challenge-response exchange, or any proof that the requester controls the corresponding NEAR wallet. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to log in as any existing WordPress user, including administrators, whose email address matches the deterministic `<account>@near.org` pattern derived from the supplied `account` value. If no matching user exists, the handler automatically creates and authenticates a new WordPress account for the attacker-controlled identifier, providing a further avenue for unauthorized acc

Casky was already ahead

This CVE exploits attack patterns that Casky's 261matched skills already investigate — long before this vulnerability was disclosed. Claude's reasoning model maps these techniques to MITRE ATT&CK, so practitioners who ran these skills have already seen the threat behaviour in their findings.

Analysis

The Login with NEAR plugin for WordPress versions up to 0.3.3 contains a critical authentication bypass vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to gain valid WordPress session access. The vulnerability exists in the `ajaxLoginWithNear()` function, which is exposed to unauthenticated users through the `wp_ajax_nopriv` hook. The function performs only a substring check for `.near` on an attacker-supplied account parameter before issuing a legitimate WordPress authentication cookie, completely bypassing standard security controls including nonce verification, cryptographic signature validation, and challenge-response exchanges. This affects any WordPress installation running the vulnerable plugin, potentially exposing all user accounts and sensitive data to unauthorized access.

Casky's 261 matched security skills, powered by Claude AI with extended reasoning, help practitioners identify the attack patterns underlying this vulnerability across MITRE ATT&CK techniques TA0004 (Privilege Escalation) and TA0006 (Credential Access). Practitioners would see detections highlighting suspicious patterns such as unauthenticated AJAX requests to login handlers, lack of cryptographic validation in authentication workflows, dangerous use of substring matching for security decisions, and missing nonce/CSRF protections on sensitive administrative functions. The skills would surface weaknesses in input validation logic, improper trust assumptions about external authentication systems, and exposed authentication endpoints. Security teams would receive specific findings pointing to the dangerous combination of insufficient validation, missing anti-CSRF measures, and overly permissive access controls that enable threat actors to forge authentication credentials without legitimate proof of account ownership.

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EPSS Probability

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Shodan Exposure

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GreyNoise Signal

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261 Casky skills cover this attack pattern

These skills use Claude AI's reasoning model to surface findings in the same attack categories as CVE-2026-8994.

analyzing-cloud-storage-access-patterns

cloud security · low

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container security · low

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analyzing-malicious-url-with-urlscan

phishing defense · medium

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MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

TA0004 TA0006

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