CVE-2026-16774

WPBot <= 8.5.9 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Email Relay via wpcs_send_email AJAX Action

The Chatbot plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in versions up to, and including, 8.5.9 via the wpcs_send_email() AJAX handler. This is due to the wpcs_send_email() function being registered on both wp_ajax_wpcs_send_email and wp_ajax_nopriv_wpcs_send_email with no nonce verification, capability check, or rate limiting, while forwarding attacker-controlled recipient, subject, and body directly to wp_mail(). This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to send arbitrary emails to any recipient from the site's domain, enabling spam, phishing, and abuse that can lead to the site's IP/domain being blacklisted.

We have discovered 1,009 live websites that are affected by CVE-2026-16774.

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Affected Software

Product  Chatbot
Category Wordpress Plugins
Vulnerable Domains1,009 live websites (100% of Chatbot install base)
Vulnerable Versions
  • from 0 through 8.5.9
Vulnerable Versions Count150 versions ( 100% of all versions)


Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-862 Missing Authorization



Details

  • Published - Jul 28, 2026
  • Updated - Jul 28, 2026

Credits

  • Wordfence PRISM (finder)

Website Distribution by Country

Number of websites using CVE-2026-16774
United States330 websites


India71 websites
Germany62 websites
GB52 websites
France39 websites
Italy37 websites
South Africa34 websites
Canada28 websites
Australia24 websites
Cyprus23 websites

Website Distribution by TLD

Number of websites using CVE-2026-16774
.com476 websites
.org45 websites
.net33 websites
.it23 websites
.com.au23 websites
.co.uk22 websites
.de17 websites
.fr16 websites
.ca15 websites
.eu11 websites

Vulnerable Versions

Vulnerable versions are highlighted in red

Websites affected by CVE-2026-16774

Top websites that are affected by CVE-2026-16774. Please click on the "Contact us" link to get more information.
DomainCountryRankContacts
*********.****.br Brazil**,***
****.***.mt Malta**,***
************.org United States**,***
****.***.my Malaysia***,***
***.international Belgium***,***
************.com United States***,***
***.**.ke Kenya***,***
**********.com GB***,***
****.info GB***,***
****.com United States***,***
See full domain list

FAQ

CVE-2026-16774 is Missing Authorization in Chatbot
A total of 1,009 websites have been identified as vulnerable to CVE-2026-16774, based on global website indexing conducted by WebTechSurvey.
The Chatbot is affected by the CVE-2026-16774 vulnerability.
Chatbot versions up to and including 8.5.9 are vulnerable to CVE-2026-16774.