Skip to main content

Advanced Custom Fields: Extended EUVDEUVD-2026-33165

| CVE-2026-8809 CRITICAL
Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269)
2026-05-28 Wordfence GHSA-jvvq-c627-79xm
9.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Wordfence
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Recon
    Identify public ACFE Create-User form
  2. Delivery
    Craft POST with _acf_post_id and administrator role
  3. Exploit
    Submit to bypass validation cleanup
  4. Install
    wp_insert_user creates admin account
  5. C2
    Log in as new administrator
  6. Execute
    Install malicious plugin for code execution
  7. Impact
    Full WordPress site takeover

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

Exploitation requires the target WordPress site to publicly expose an ACFE (Advanced Custom Fields: Extended) frontend Form configured with a Create User action that maps a role field - this is a non-default plugin configuration that the site owner must explicitly build. No authentication or user interaction is needed (CVSS PR:N/UI:N), and the attack is delivered as a single crafted HTTP POST containing an attacker-controlled _acf_post_id parameter and an 'administrator' role value to the form-handling endpoint. Limiting factors: sites that have ACFE installed but do not publish such a form, or that map only non-privileged roles without exposing the role field to the submitter, are not exploitable via this path; the vulnerability is bounded to ACFE versions up to and including 0.9.2.5 on the hwk-fr CPE.

Impact

All available signals point to a high-priority issue: the CVSS:3.1 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H reflects remote, unauthenticated, low-complexity exploitation with full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact, and successful exploitation yields administrator access - effectively full site compromise. The vulnerability is not currently listed in CISA KEV and no EPSS score was supplied in the input, so probability-of-exploitation telemetry is unknown; however, WordPress plugin admin-creation flaws have historically been automated quickly once disclosed by Wordfence. The most important caveat is that exploitation is gated by a non-default condition - the site must expose a public ACFE frontend form configured with a Create User action that maps a role field - so the population of immediately exploitable sites is a subset of all installs, which tempers the otherwise straightforward CVSS-9.8 read. No public exploit identified at time of analysis based on the references provided.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An unauthenticated attacker identifies a WordPress site running ACFE <= 0.9.2.5 that exposes a public frontend Form with a Create User action mapping a role field (for example, a 'Become a contributor' signup page). The attacker submits the form with a crafted _acf_post_id POST parameter and a role value of 'administrator'; the validation-bypass causes the role allow-list and admin-capability errors to be discarded, and wp_insert_user() provisions a new administrator account that the attacker uses to install a malicious plugin and achieve full site takeover.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAIv1 – May 28, 2026

Unauthenticated privilege escalation in the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended (ACFE) WordPress plugin through version 0.9.2.5 allows remote attackers to create new administrator-level accounts on vulnerable sites. The flaw stems from the after_validate_save_post() function trusting an attacker-controlled POST parameter to bypass role allow-list and capability validation when a public ACFE frontend form with a Create User action is exposed. With a CVSS 9.8 and no public exploit identified at time of analysis, the vulnerability presents a direct site-takeover path on affected configurations.

RemediationAI

Upstream fix available (changeset 3551665 in the acf-extended plugin trac, https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3551665/acf-extended); a released patched version beyond 0.9.2.5 is not independently confirmed from the provided data, so administrators should update to the latest available ACFE release that supersedes 0.9.2.5 as soon as it is published and verified against the Wordfence advisory. As an immediate compensating control until patching, unpublish or remove any public-facing ACFE frontend Form that uses the Create User action mapped to a role field, or reconfigure the form to hard-code a non-privileged role server-side and remove the role field mapping - this directly eliminates the exploitable code path at the cost of disabling self-service user registration through that form. Where the form must remain online, restrict access via authentication (place behind a logged-in-only page), a WAF rule blocking submissions containing crafted _acf_post_id values, or IP allow-listing; each of these adds operational friction and a WAF rule alone may be bypassed by parameter variants, so it should be treated as temporary mitigation rather than a fix.

Affected VersionsENISA

Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 0 ≤0.9.2.5

Affected Packages

euvd advanced_custom_fields_extended no fix

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

Advanced Custom Fields: Extended is a popular WordPress add-on that extends the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin with additional field types, modules, and frontend form-building capabilities, including a Form module that can perform actions like creating users on submission. The root cause is classified as CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management): the after_validate_save_post() hook in includes/hooks.php selects an error-cleanup branch based on the unauthenticated _acf_post_id POST parameter, and that branch silently discards every validation error whose key is not prefixed with 'acfe:'. As a result, both the role allow-list error emitted by acfe_field_user_roles::validate_front_value() and the administrator-role capability guard error emitted by acfe_module_form_action_user::validate_action() are dropped before submission, causing wp_insert_user() to proceed with the attacker-supplied role argument. The affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:hwk-fr:advanced_custom_fields:_extended (vendor hwk-fr), and the upstream code paths involved are visible in the plugins.trac.wordpress.org references for tag 0.9.2.4.

Know when Advanced Custom Fields gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

Vendor (Wordfence) PRIMARY 9.8 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from Vendor (Wordfence) · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorVendor: Wordfence

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionCVE.org

The Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Validation Bypass in all versions up to and including 0.9.2.5. The vulnerability exists due to the after_validate_save_post() function unconditionally trusting the attacker-controlled _acf_post_id POST parameter - with no authentication or integrity verification - to select a cleanup branch that silently discards all validation errors not prefixed with acfe:. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to suppress both the role allow-list validation error added by acfe_field_user_roles::validate_front_value() and the administrator-role capability guard error added by acfe_module_form_action_user::validate_action(), causing wp_insert_user() to execute with an attacker-supplied administrator role argument and resulting in the creation of a new administrator-level user account. Exploitation requires the target site to expose a public ACFE frontend form configured with a Create User action that maps a role field.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

The Advanced Custom Fields: Extended (ACFE) WordPress plugin through version 0.9.2.5 contains a critical vulnerability enabling unauthenticated attackers to create administrator accounts and achieve complete site takeover (CVE-2026-8809, CVSS 9.8, no public exploit identified at time of analysis). Any WordPress installation running the affected plugin version with public forms configured for user creation faces immediate risk of unauthorized administrative access and full system compromise. No vendor-released patch is currently available.

Business Impact: Severe
Compensating Controls

Disable Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin entirely until vendor patch becomes available. If operational need requires the plugin, restrict all ACFE forms to authenticated users only and enforce role-based access controls preventing non-administrators from creating user accounts. Deploy Web Application Firewall rules blocking POST requests to ACFE form submission endpoints from public internet access. Conduct immediate forensic review of all user and administrator accounts created since plugin installation. Enable comprehensive WordPress audit logging for user creation, role assignment, and administrator actions with SIEM integration.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 59% exploitable
Social Media
2
Sightings
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

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.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Out-of-Cycle
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
Yes
Human Impact
Very High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

49
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +49
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

CVE-2023-1196 HIGH POC
8.8 May 02

The Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Free and Pro WordPress plugins 6.x before 6.1.0 and 5.x before 5.12.5 unserialize user

CVE-2022-2594 HIGH POC
8.8 Aug 22

The Advanced Custom Fields WordPress plugin before 5.12.3, Advanced Custom Fields Pro WordPress plugin before 5.12.3 all

CVE-2026-12526 HIGH POC
8.1 Sep 02

Unauthenticated administrator account takeover in the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended WordPress plugin before 0.9.2.7 i

CVE-2026-80467 HIGH POC
8.1 Sep 02

Privilege escalation to administrator in the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended WordPress plugin before 0.9.2.7 allows una

CVE-2024-9529 MEDIUM POC
6.6 Nov 15

The Secure Custom Fields WordPress plugin before 6.3.9, Secure Custom Fields WordPress plugin before 6.3.6.3, Advanced C

CVE-2024-4565 MEDIUM POC
6.5 Jun 20

The Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) WordPress plugin before 6.3, Advanced Custom Fields Pro WordPress plugin before 6.3 all

CVE-2023-30777 MEDIUM POC
6.1 May 10

Unauth. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low at

CVE-2021-24241 MEDIUM POC
6.1 Apr 22

The Advanced Custom Fields Pro WordPress plugin before 5.9.1 did not properly escape the generated update URL when outpu

CVE-2026-48906 CRITICAL
9.3 May 27

Arbitrary file deletion in the Novarain/Tassos Framework system plugin (plg_system_nrframework) and the suite of Tassos.

CVE-2026-94263 MEDIUM POC
4.8 Oct 23

Improper shortcode handling in the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended and ACF Extended PRO WordPress plugins (versions 0.9

CVE-2021-20865 HIGH
7.5 Dec 13

Advanced Custom Fields versions prior to 5.11 and Advanced Custom Fields Pro versions prior to 5.11 contain a missing au

CVE-2025-15463 MEDIUM
6.5 May 12

Arbitrary shortcode execution in the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended WordPress plugin (all versions through 0.9.2.3) en

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy