Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate as multisite child-site administrator
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DeliveryInvoke unauthorized one-click upgrade routine
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ExploitWrite arbitrary PHP to network-wide shared Duplicator directory
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ExecutionExecute injected code server-side
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ImpactCompromise entire WordPress Multisite network
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Least privilege enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires a WordPress Multisite deployment with Duplicator installed network-wide at a version from 1.5.17 up to (but not including) 5.0.0, and the attacker must already hold an administrator account on a child/subsite while NOT being a network administrator. The specific trigger is the plugin's one-click upgrade routine, which does not restrict the capability to users permitted to install the plugin. Limiting factors: exploitation is confined to WordPress Multisite configurations (single-site installs are not the described target), and per the CVSS vector it requires high privileges (an existing subsite admin account); however, the description's assertion that the routine is additionally exposed without authentication is unresolved and, if correct, would lower this barrier. No end-user interaction is required. |
| Impact | Signals are mostly aligned toward a moderate, not critical, priority. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 7.2 (High) with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N, i.e. network-reachable, low complexity, no user interaction, but requiring high privileges (an authenticated administrator account), which caps the realistic exposure. EPSS is low at 0.17% (7th percentile), consistent with the fact that exploitation needs an existing authenticated foothold rather than being broadly spray-able. This is NOT in CISA KEV, so there is no confirmed active exploitation, and the PoC is a WPScan reference that is not verified as working exploit code - these two facts should not be conflated. The vuln.today decision label is 'this_week', reflecting a real but non-emergency priority driven by the high technical impact (arbitrary PHP execution = full compromise) rather than by mass exploitability. One explicit conflict to verify with the vendor/WPScan: the CVSS vector encodes PR:H (authenticated), yet the description states the routine is 'additionally exposed without authentication' - if the unauthenticated-exposure claim is accurate, real-world privilege requirements may be lower than PR:H implies, which would raise priority. The described threat model (a multisite child-site administrator who is not a network administrator) is fundamentally a privilege-escalation/missing-authorization issue (CWE-269) scoped to WordPress Multisite deployments, which narrows the affected population. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | On a WordPress Multisite install running Duplicator 1.5.17 up to before 5.0.0, a user who holds administrator on a single child site (but is not a network administrator) invokes the plugin's one-click upgrade routine, which fails to enforce the capability/authorization check. They point it at attacker-controlled content and write arbitrary PHP into the network-wide shared Duplicator directory, achieving code execution affecting the entire network. A public PoC reference exists via WPScan but is not verified as working exploit code. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 26, 2026
Privilege escalation in the Duplicator WordPress plugin before 5.0.0 lets an administrator of a WordPress Multisite child site who is not a network administrator use the plugin's one-click upgrade routine to install and execute arbitrary PHP in the network-wide shared plugin directory. The assessed vector requires high privileges (an existing subsite administrator account) and no user interaction; the description's additional claim that the routine is exposed without authentication is unresolved in the available data. No CISA KEV entry is present, a public PoC reference exists but is not verified as working exploit code, and EPSS is low at 0.17% (percentile 7).
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: upgrade the Duplicator WordPress plugin to 5.0.0 or later; this is the fixed version boundary given by the advisory. The WPScan advisory (https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/c4512e96-6d96-474e-90c0-ad784eb1c145/) and EUVD entry EUVD-2026-109353 provide the affected range. No separate workaround is documented in the available data. Because the assessed exploitation path requires an existing Multisite subsite administrator account, limiting subsite administrator roles to trusted users and reviewing the network-wide plugin directory for unexpected PHP files can reduce exposure until the update is applied; these measures do not address the unresolved claim of unauthenticated reachability and are not a substitute for upgrading.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
Duplicator is a WordPress backup and migration plugin. In WordPress Multisite, plugins can be network-activated and shared across all subsites, and installing or upgrading network-wide plugins normally requires network administrator capabilities at the network level. CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) describes the root cause: the one-click upgrade routine does not check that the caller is permitted to install the plugin. The assessed CVSS vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H, so the confirmed path requires an authenticated high-privilege subsite administrator and no user interaction; single-site installations are not the described target. The claim that the routine is additionally reachable without authentication is not resolved by the supplied sources. CPE data identifies the affected package as unknown:duplicator, and EUVD lists affected versions from 1.5.17 up to but not including 5.0.0.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Requires an authenticated subsite admin (PR:H) over the network with no interaction; arbitrary PHP execution crosses from the child site's authority to the whole network, so S:C with full C/I/A impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (WPScan).
CVSS VectorVendor: WPScan
Lifecycle Timeline
4DescriptionCVE.org
The Duplicator WordPress plugin before 5.0.0 does not restrict its one-click upgrade routine to users allowed to install Duplicator WordPress plugin before 5.0.0, and additionally exposes the routine without authentication, allowing an administrator of a multisite child site who is not a network administrator to install and run arbitrary PHP in the network-wide shared Duplicator WordPress plugin before 5.0.0 directory.
Technical POC Analysis
CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) - a missing authorization check on a privileged operation, not a memory-safety bug.
Full technical POC analysis - root cause, step-by-step exploitation and patch breakdown - is part of the Pro and Business plans.
Executive ViewAI
A high-severity privilege escalation flaw in the Duplicator WordPress plugin (versions before 5.0.0) allows a subsite administrator to escalate to network-level code execution across all sites in a Multisite installation. Organizations running WordPress Multisite with delegated subsite administration are most exposed, as a single compromised or malicious subsite admin account could compromise the entire network's shared plugin directory. Leadership should prioritize remediation for any Multisite deployments relying on this plugin.
Vendor-released patch: 5.0.0
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
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EUVD-2026-109353
GHSA-j9mp-rgph-hchj
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB