# CVE-2026-4065: Nextendweb Smart Slider 3 missing authorization in AJAX actions

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-4065-nextendweb-smart-slider-3-missing-authorization-in-ajax-actions  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-04-07. Updated: 2026-07-24  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-4065 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.4 · Published 2026-04-07

Smart Slider 3, a popular WordPress plugin for creating visual sliders, contains a security flaw that allows users with low-level 'Contributor' accounts to access and modify data they should not be able to reach. An attacker could use this to view slider metadata or create, change, and delete image storage records. This could lead to unauthorized content changes or the loss of image data on the affected website.

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-4065 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-4065 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-4065?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.4, published 7 April 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Nextendweb Smart Slider 3 up to, and including, 3.5.1.33.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-4065?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-4065 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-4065?** Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

The Smart Slider 3 plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to missing authorization (CWE-862) in its AJAX handlers. Specifically, the display_admin_ajax() method fails to call checkForCap(), and several controller actions validate only the security nonce (validateToken()) without performing a permission check (validatePermission()). An authenticated attacker with Contributor-level permissions or higher can exploit this by obtaining the 'nextend_nonce' from post editor pages. This allows the attacker to enumerate slider metadata and perform CRUD operations on image storage records. The vulnerability is present in all versions up to and including 3.5.1.33.

## Affected products

- Nextendweb Smart Slider 3 up to, and including, 3.5.1.33

## Timeline

- 2026-04-07: disclosed: Initial disclosure by Wordfence
- 2026-04-07: advisory: NVD publication date

## References

- [https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/tags/3.5.1.32/Nextend/Framework/Image/ControllerAjaxImage.php](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/tags/3.5.1.32/Nextend/Framework/Image/ControllerAjaxImage.php)
- [https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/tags/3.5.1.32/Nextend/SmartSlider3/Application/Admin/Sliders/ControllerAjaxSliders.php](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/tags/3.5.1.32/Nextend/SmartSlider3/Application/Admin/Sliders/ControllerAjaxSliders.php)
- [https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/tags/3.5.1.32/Nextend/SmartSlider3/Platform/WordPress/Admin/AdminHelper.php](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/tags/3.5.1.32/Nextend/SmartSlider3/Platform/WordPress/Admin/AdminHelper.php)
- [https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/tags/3.5.1.32/Nextend/SmartSlider3/Platform/WordPress/HelperTinyMCE.php](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/tags/3.5.1.32/Nextend/SmartSlider3/Platform/WordPress/HelperTinyMCE.php)
- [https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/trunk/Nextend/SmartSlider3/Platform/WordPress/Admin/AdminHelper.php](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-slider-3/trunk/Nextend/SmartSlider3/Platform/WordPress/Admin/AdminHelper.php)
- [https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&new=3489689%40smart-slider-3%2Ftrunk&old=3439582%40smart-slider-3%2Ftrunk&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&new=3489689%40smart-slider-3%2Ftrunk&old=3439582%40smart-slider-3%2Ftrunk&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=)
- [https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/53a08b59-b7e0-419a-bfc3-528bcddb1ac2?source=cve](https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/53a08b59-b7e0-419a-bfc3-528bcddb1ac2?source=cve)