Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate as Subscriber
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DeliverySubmit post with \x01-obfuscated [wpuf-registration role=editor] via submit_post()
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ExploitBlocklist strpos check bypassed, wp_kses stores clean shortcode
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ExecutionPublished post renders live Editor registration form on frontend
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PersistSubmit form to create Editor account
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ImpactObtain immediately active privileged session via autologin
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 an authenticated WordPress account at Subscriber level or above and the ability to submit a frontend post through the plugin's submit_post() AJAX handler. The core bypass depends on the discrepancy between the blocklist guard (which inspects the sanitize_textarea_field copy) and the persisted copy processed by wp_kses(), whose wp_kses_no_null() step strips the injected C0 control byte (\x01) placed inside the |
| Impact | This is a genuine high-priority privilege-escalation issue rather than a paper-high CVSS. The supplied CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H = 8.8, from Wordfence) indicates a network-reachable, low-complexity attack needing only low privileges and no user interaction, with high confidentiality/integrity/availability impact - consistent with CWE-269. The crucial contextual amplifier is that the affected product is itself a frontend user-registration/membership plugin, so the PR:L prerequisite (Subscriber-level access) is frequently trivial to obtain on exactly the sites that run it, effectively lowering the real-world barrier below what PR:L alone suggests. Countervailing signals: no EPSS score was provided, the CVE is NOT on CISA KEV, no SSVC exploitation/automatable/technical-impact decision was supplied, and there is no confirmed working public exploit - the references are a Wordfence advisory, plugin source lines, and the fix changeset, not verified exploit code. The vuln.today decision label is 'this_week' (not act_now/emergency). Net: treat as a real, actionable escalation path to be remediated this week; the exploitation chain is well-documented and mechanically plausible, but there is currently no evidence of in-the-wild exploitation or of packaged exploit code, so this is not an emergency-tier fire. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An authenticated Subscriber submits a frontend post whose post_content carries a |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 31, 2026
Privilege escalation in the User Frontend WordPress plugin through 4.3.13 allows any authenticated Subscriber-level user to plant a functional [wpuf-registration role="editor"] shortcode in a published post by hiding it behind a C0 control byte that the plugin's blocklist misses but WordPress storage processing strips. Once the form is rendered, an unauthenticated visitor or the attacker can submit it to create an Editor account, and with the default autologin_after_registration setting enabled the new Editor is logged in immediately. The issue is scored CVSS 8.8, is prioritized for remediation this week, is not listed in CISA KEV, and no public exploit was identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
Apply the upstream fix in WordPress plugin changeset 3770255 (https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3770255/wp-user-frontend/trunk/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php) or update to a tagged release that contains it; the supplied data does not identify an exact patched release version, so verify the installed version against the vendor advisory before relying on an update. If an immediate update is not possible, restrict frontend post submission to trusted roles so Subscriber-level users cannot reach submit_post(), and disable autologin_after_registration to prevent an immediately active Editor session-though an Editor account can still be created, and restricting submissions may break legitimate user content workflows. Check the Wordfence advisory for confirmation of a patched tagged version.
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
The User Frontend plugin's frontend post submission AJAX path (Frontend_Form_Ajax::submit_post()) applies a protected-shortcode blocklist to the sanitize_textarea_field() copy of the submitted post_content, but the copy persisted to the database is processed through wp_kses(). The wp_kses_no_null() step strips C0 control bytes, so inserting a single \x01 byte inside the [wpuf-registration] tag name causes the blocklist's strpos() check to miss the shortcode while the stored value is normalized into a working [wpuf-registration role="editor"] form. strip_shortcodes() does not neutralize the stored shortcode because the Frontend container that calls add_shortcode() is only instantiated when is_admin() is false, and WordPress admin-ajax requests have is_admin() === true. The root cause is CWE-269 improper privilege management: a Subscriber-level account can cause a privileged registration form to be rendered on the public frontend, and any unauthenticated visitor can submit that form once it is planted. Obtaining an immediately active Editor session depends on the default autologin_after_registration setting being enabled; if disabled, an Editor account can still be created without the automatic privileged session. Code references in the 4.3.13 tag include Frontend_Form_Ajax.php lines 132 and 253 and Frontend/Registration.php lines 116 and 362.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Network-reachable AJAX submission, PR:L for the required Subscriber account, AC:L and UI:N since the control-byte bypass is deterministic against default autologin config; Editor takeover yields high C/I/A within the single WordPress authority (S:U).
Primary rating from Vendor (Wordfence).
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
The User Frontend - Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.3.13 via the post_content parameter of the submit_post() function. The vulnerability exists because the protected-shortcode blocklist guard inspects the sanitize_textarea_field() copy of the submitted post_content, while the copy actually persisted to the database is processed through wp_kses(), whose wp_kses_no_null() step strips C0 control bytes - allowing an attacker to inject a single \x01 byte inside the [wpuf-registration] tag name to defeat the strpos() blocklist check while the clean, functional shortcode is stored verbatim; strip_shortcodes() does not neutralize the stored shortcode either, because the Frontend container that registers it via add_shortcode() is only instantiated when is_admin() is false, and admin-ajax requests have is_admin() === true. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to inject a [wpuf-registration role="editor"] shortcode into a published post, causing a live Editor-role registration form to be rendered publicly on the frontend that any visitor - or the attacker themselves - can submit to mint a WordPress Editor account with an immediately active privileged session when the default autologin_after_registration setting is enabled.
Executive ViewAI
CVE-2026-120070 is a high-severity privilege escalation flaw in the widely used User Frontend WordPress plugin that enables any registered user to create new Editor-level accounts, bypassing intended access controls. This puts the integrity and confidentiality of the entire WordPress site at risk, as unauthorized editors can modify content, inject malicious code, or access sensitive data, affecting all site users and potentially the organization's reputation and regulatory compliance.
Disable or remove the User Frontend plugin; restrict user registration and role assignments; enable logging and alerting for new user creation and role changes; enforce least privilege and regular access reviews.
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-2026-114657
GHSA-558h-x4v5-3hwr
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB