---
title: "WEB-CMS-018 WordPress Author Archive Reveals Login Names"
canonical: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-CMS-018.html
html: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-CMS-018.html
site: OpenVAPT, https://openvapt.com/
license: OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3, https://openvapt.com/legal/licence-text.html
modified: 2026-10-14
version: 0.1.0-alpha.6
---

# WEB-CMS-018 WordPress Author Archive Reveals Login Names

Checks whether /?author=1 redirects to an author archive, which exposes the first account's login name in the address.

- Domain: Web Apps
- Severity: Low
- Control category: Information Exposure
- Fix effort: low
- CVSS v3.1 vector: `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`
- CIS Controls v8: 16.7
- NIST CSF 2.0: PR.PS-01
- CWE: CWE-204
- OWASP Top 10 2021: A07:2021
- OWASP WSTG v4.2: WSTG-IDNT-04
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: CM-6, SI-11

## Why It Matters

The author archive address contains the user's slug, which by default equals the login name. Together with the REST API listing (WEB-CMS-003) this gives attackers the administrator's user name for password guessing without touching the login form.

## How It Detects

Sends one GET for /?author=1 and fails on a 301 or 302 whose Location header contains /author/. The name itself is not written to the report.

## How to Fix

Return 404 for author queries by id (a small redirect rule or a security plugin's user enumeration protection), and give administrators a nickname and display name that differ from the login name.

## How to Verify

```
curl -sI https://<site>/?author=1 | grep -i location  prints nothing or a 404 page.
```

## Learn the Theory

- [P6 Information Exposure and Misconfiguration](https://openvapt.com/academy/p6.md)
- [P14 CMS Hardening in Depth: WordPress, Joomla and Drupal](https://openvapt.com/academy/p14.md)
- [A6 Application Framework and CMS Configuration](https://openvapt.com/academy/a6.md)

## References

- [WordPress Developer Resources, Brute Force Attacks](https://developer.wordpress.org/advanced-administration/security/brute-force/)
- [WordPress Developer Resources, Hardening WordPress](https://developer.wordpress.org/advanced-administration/security/hardening/)

## Source Code

https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt/blob/574f7f3333c44b75a3c649e2d93a76d507f75adf/internal/checks/web/cms_depth.go

Run it: `openvapt scan --only WEB-CMS-018`. Read it offline: `openvapt explain WEB-CMS-018`.

---

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