CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-36176 — Ithemes Ithemes Security security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.5

The iThemes Security (formerly Better WP Security) plugin before 7.7.0 for WordPress does not enforce a new-password requirement for an existing account until the second login occurs.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.1)
Published
2021-01-06
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
php/wordpress
Weaknesses
CWE-287

Affected products

  • ithemes / ithemes_security

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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