Critical

Blackhole for Bad Bots <= 3.3.1 - Arbitrary IP Address Blocking via IP Spoofing

  • Disclosed: 31.01.2022
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 10:23

The Blackhole for Bad Bots WordPress plugin before 3.3.2 uses headers such as CF-CONNECTING-IP, CLIENT-IP etc to determine the IP address of requests hitting the blackhole URL, which allows them to be spoofed. This could result in blocking arbitrary IP addresses, such as legitimate/good search engine crawlers / bots. This could also be abused by competitors to cause damage related to visibility in search engines, can be used to bypass arbitrary blocks caused by this plugin, block any visitor or even the administrator and even more.

Affected software

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PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
WordPress plugin Blackhole for Bad Bots < 3.3.2 3.3.2

References

CVSS score 9.1/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-639
Platform
WordPress
Package
Blackhole for Bad Bots
Disclosed
31.01.2022
Updated
11.10.2026 10:23

Sources and licenses

Wordfence Intelligence - a8447fa0-f994-4de3-b6e7-2fe61e06bed1 - Wordfence Intelligence

Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation

Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc.

This record contains material that is subject to copyright

Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation

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https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse
Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc.

Defiant hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute this software vulnerability information. Any copy of the software vulnerability information you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you include a hyperlink to this vulnerability record and reproduce Defiant's copyright designation and this license in any such copy.

https://www.wordfence.com/wordfence-intelligence-terms-and-conditions/
Wordfence Intelligence
Wordfence Intelligence - Defiant, Inc.
Copyright Defiant, Inc. All rights reserved except as granted below.
License grant, section 3.1 of the Wordfence Intelligence Terms and Conditions (January 26, 2026):

Subject to this Agreement, Company hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Service. Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you reproduce Company’s copyright designation, this license, and the license of any disclosed Company licensor in any such copy.

Full applicable Agreement: https://www.wordfence.com/wordfence-intelligence-terms-and-conditions/

Vulnerability history: Blackhole for Bad Bots

All published vulnerabilities of this package (WordPress plugin), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

Total entries
2
First → latest
01.2022 03.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 1
  • High 1

Disclosures per year

  1. 2022: 1
  2. 2023: 0
  3. 2024: 0
  4. 2025: 0
  5. 2026: 1
  1. Blackhole for Bad Bots <= 3.3.1 - Arbitrary IP Address Blocking via IP Spoofing this entry
    Critical · 9.1 CVE-2022-1165 < 3.3.2 3.3.2

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