Introduction
Tumblr’s Post+ was designed to let creators monetize exclusive content. But what happens when a user can still subscribe to a creator who has already opted out?
While this behavior might seem harmless at first glance, digging deeper reveals unexpected application logic — leading to inconsistencies in access control, payment flow, and potentially creator visibility.
In this write-up, I’ll walk you through a quirky but fascinating bug that allowed me to subscribe to an inactive Post+ creator, earning a $100 bounty for responsibly reporting the issue to Automattic.
Understanding Tumblr’s Post+ and the Bug Context
Tumblr’s Post+ feature relies on a WooCommerce-powered payment flow that links a creator’s Post+ status to a unique blogMembershipsId. When a creator opts in, a checkout URL is generated using that ID. If they opt out, the expectation is that the creator’s Post+ content and checkout capabilities are disabled.