Critical severity · published Feb 15, 2026
CVE-2026-1490
Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk <= 6.71 - Authorization Bypass via Reverse DNS (PTR record) Spoofing to Unauthenticated Arbitrary Plugin Installation
9.8
CVSS
1.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
The Spam protection, Anti-Spam, FireWall by CleanTalk plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized Arbitrary Plugin Installation due to an authorization bypass via reverse DNS (PTR record) spoofing on the 'checkWithoutToken' function in all versions up to, and including, 6.71. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to install and activate arbitrary plugins which can be leveraged to achieve remote code execution if another vulnerable plugin is installed and activated. Note: This is only exploitable on sites with an invalid API key.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)1.3% · higher than 70% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
SP
Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk · cleantalk
through 6.71 · source: vendor
Affected product
SP
Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk
cleantalk
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-1490
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-1490
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/cleantalk-spam-protect/trunk/lib/Cleantalk/ApbctWP/RemoteCalls.php#L69
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/cleantalk-spam-protect/trunk/lib/Cleantalk/Common/Helper.php#L64
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3454488/cleantalk-spam-protect#file473
www.wordfence.com
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/cb603be6-4a12-49e1-b8cc-b2062eb97f16?source=cve
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