BetterLinks <= 3.1.0 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary Short URL Creation via create_fbs_link AJAX Action
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-19801 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Wordfence |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-08-25 02:16:40 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-08-25 02:16:40 UTC |
| Description | The BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.0. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to create arbitrary BetterLinks short URLs with attacker-controlled slugs and redirect destinations, enabling phishing and SEO abuse. Exploitation requires the Fluent Boards companion plugin to be installed and active (so that the FLUENT_BOARDS constant is defined), and is further facilitated by the betterlinks_admin_nonce nonce being emitted on every frontend page via wp_localize_script, making it accessible to any authenticated user. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 4.3 MEDIUM from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Problem Types: CWE-862 | CWE-862 CWE-862 Missing Authorization
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Primary | 4.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N |
| 3.1 | CNA | DECLARED | 4.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
LowUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
LowAvailability
NoneCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Wpdevteam | BetterLinks Link Shortener Link Cloaking Redirects Affiliate Link Manager MCP | affected 3.1.0 semver | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/betterlinks/tags/3.0.0/betterlinks.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/faf44730-b975-4057-96dc-72847... | [email protected] | www.wordfence.com | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/betterlinks/tags/3.1.0/betterlinks.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/betterlinks/tags/3.1.0/includes/Admin/Ajax.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/betterlinks/tags/3.0.0/includes/Admin/Ajax.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/betterlinks/tags/3.0.0/includes/Admin/Ajax.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/betterlinks/tags/3.1.0/includes/Admin/Ajax.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Wordfence PRISM (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-08-13T20:41:23.000Z | Vendor Notified |
| CNA | 2026-08-24T13:23:38.000Z | Disclosed |
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.