Executive brief
Rank Math SEO is a popular WordPress plugin that manages search engine optimization metadata for content and user profiles. A flaw in the plugin allows users with the Author role to modify SEO settings (like search indexing directives) on content, categories, and user profiles they don't own, effectively removing others' content from search engines and sitemaps without authorization.
Technical details
The vulnerability is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) / broken access control flaw in the rank_math_mark_page_as AJAX action. The plugin fails to verify that the authenticated user has permission to edit the target object before applying SEO metadata changes (noindex, nofollow, pillar_content flags). Attack precondition: attacker must have Author role or higher and possess a valid AJAX nonce emitted on any front-end page. The attack vector is network-based; an attacker can issue a crafted POST request to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with parameters specifying the target post ID, term ID, or user ID and the desired flag. Impact: arbitrary modification of robots directives, removal of content from sitemaps, and manipulation of search engine visibility on objects the attacker does not own. Fixed in version 1.0.277.
Affected products
- Rank Math Rank Math SEO before 1.0.277
Timeline
- 2026-08-31: disclosed
- 2026: patched: Fixed in version 1.0.277