# CVE-2020-11515: Rank Math Plugin - Redirect Creation

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2020-11515 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2020-11515

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Limited Exploitation. The vulnerability is known but shows very limited attacker interest or exploitation activity.
- **CVSS score:** 6.1
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** Rank Math SEO
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-601 (URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect'))
- **Tags:** cms, wordpress

## Description

The Rank Math plugin through 1.0.40.2 for WordPress allows unauthenticated remote attackers to create new URIs (that redirect to an external web site) via the unsecured rankmath/v1/updateRedirection REST API endpoint. In other words, this is not an "Open Redirect" issue; instead, it allows the attacker to create a new URI with an arbitrary name (e.g., the /exampleredirect URI).

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2020-11515](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2020-11515) is a vulnerability in the Rank Math plugin for WordPress (up to version 1.0.40.2) that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to create arbitrary redirect URIs via an insecure REST API endpoint. This flaw can be exploited to craft malicious links that redirect users to external sites, potentially facilitating phishing attacks or traffic redirection schemes.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 24th of September 2025.

CrowdSec network observations suggest that most exploitation of CVE-2020-11515 involves focused reconnaissance to identify viable targets. Attackers typically tailor their campaigns based on system exposure and configuration. It is unlikely that a given attack is accidental.
CrowdSec network telemetry also shows that exploitation of CVE-2020-11515 has significantly declined over the past week. Attack volumes are well below the long-term average, suggesting attackers are rapidly losing interest. The vulnerability appears to be falling out of active use across most threat landscapes.

Attackers exploit the unprotected `/wp-json/rankmath/v1/updateRedirection` REST API endpoint to create arbitrary redirection URIs on vulnerable WordPress sites. This allows unauthenticated requests to set up redirects to attacker-controlled external websites.

## Timeline

- 2020-04-07: CVE Published. CVE-2020-11515 is published to NVD.
- 2025-09-24: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2020-11515 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2025-09-25: CrowdSec First Seen. CrowdSec observes in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2020-11515 for the first time.

## References

- https://wordpress.org/plugins/seo-by-rank-math/#developers
- https://rankmath.com/changelog/
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-11515.yaml

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2020-11515) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2020-11515. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.