Unauthenticated RCE via a widely used WordPress page‑builder plugin; mass site compromise and data theft risk across many public websites.
CVE-2026-12227
Unauthenticated LFI in Visual Composer plugin enabling remote code execution.
Is CVE-2026-12227 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-12227 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 2.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-12227?
CVE-2026-12227 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-12227?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-12227. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-12227 affect?
CVE-2026-12227 affects Visual Composer Website Builder <=45.16.0, WordPress sites with the plugin installed, PHP web servers hosting affected sites. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-12227?
Upgrade plugin to the patched version (>45.16.0) or remove it; scan and remediate compromised sites.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Unauthenticated local file inclusion allowing execution of arbitrary PHP, data access, access‑control bypass, and full site compromise.
Immediate action required
- affected<= 45.16.0
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.
public exploits
Unvetted proof-of-concept code on GitHub: 4 GitHub proofs of concept · 1 Nuclei template
- Visual Composer <= 45.16.0 - Unauthenticated LFI · detection template · critical
Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.
cisa ssvc
- exploitation
- none
- automatable
- yes
- technical impact
- total
Assessed by CISA 24 Sept 2026 (SSVC 2.0.3).
timeline
- 24 Sept 2026First proof-of-concept repository on GitHub (unvetted)
- 24 Sept 2026Published · same day later
- 24 Sept 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com · same day later
- 24 Sept 2026CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none · same day later
- 24 Sept 2026CVE record last updated · same day later
- Linkwordfence.com /threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/486c1c7c-5a66-42d3-85b0-13ce52a16ed1?source=cve
- Linkplugins.trac.wordpress.org /changeset/3619572/
sources
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Nuclei templates: detection templates
- PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept
- Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.