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Ultimate Member EUVDEUVD-2026-51430

| CVE-2026-12251 HIGH
Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269)
2026-07-31 WPScan GHSA-x3gc-pq2r-3884
8.1
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: WPScan
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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Recon
    Locate live Ultimate Member registration form with role-selection field
  2. Delivery
    Identify admin-capable custom role in dropdown options
  3. Exploit
    Submit registration request selecting elevated role
  4. Install
    Plugin assigns admin-level role without filtering
  5. C2
    Account activates with full administrator capabilities
  6. Execute
    Log in and access WordPress admin dashboard
  7. Impact
    Full site compromise

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
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 three concurrent site-specific conditions: (1) a custom WordPress user role must exist on the target site that carries administrator-level capabilities (e.g., manage_options, activate_plugins, or equivalent); (2) Ultimate Member must have a role-selection field present on at least one published registration form; and (3) the plugin's post-registration safeguard against elevated accounts must be disabled - which is the default state. The CVSS PR:N vector confirms no authentication is required from the attacker. What limits exploitation is the configuration dependency: sites that have not created admin-capable custom roles, or whose registration forms do not expose a role-selection field, are not exploitable regardless of plugin version. The attack cannot be fully automated (SSVC: Automatable no) because the attacker must identify a qualifying role from the form's exposed options before submitting registration.

Impact

The NVD CVSS base score of 8.1 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) captures the tension well: the attack is network-reachable and unauthenticated, but AC:H reflects that exploitation depends on non-default site configuration (a custom role with admin caps must exist and a role-selection field must appear on a published registration form). EPSS at 0.14% (4th percentile) is notably low despite a public PoC, suggesting the configuration prerequisites are constraining observed exploitation attempts - consistent with SSVC's 'Automatable: no' and 'Exploitation: none' ratings. However, SSVC also rates Technical Impact as 'total', correctly noting that if conditions are met, the consequence is full WordPress site compromise. The POC exists but KEV absence means no confirmed mass exploitation. Priority should be high for any organization running Ultimate Member with custom roles bearing elevated capabilities; low-priority for sites without role-selection fields on registration forms. The divergence between EPSS and SSVC technical impact is notable and not conflicting - it reflects conditional rather than universal risk.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker visits a WordPress site running a vulnerable Ultimate Member registration form that includes a role-selection dropdown. The attacker inspects the form options, identifies a custom role bearing administrator-level WordPress capabilities (such as manage_options or activate_plugins), selects it, and submits a valid registration. Because the plugin does not filter admin-capable roles from the dropdown and the post-registration safeguard is off by default, the account activates immediately with full WordPress administrator privileges. The attacker then logs in and has unrestricted access to the site's admin dashboard, content, user database, and installed plugins. A publicly available proof-of-concept is referenced via WPScan.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Jul 31, 2026

Privilege escalation to WordPress administrator in Ultimate Member plugin before 2.12.1 permits unauthenticated registrants to self-assign a site-defined role carrying full administrator capabilities, resulting in complete site takeover. The plugin omits administrator-level roles from its registration form role-filter and ships with its post-registration elevation safeguard disabled by default, creating a two-layered failure that exposes affected sites when a custom admin-capable role exists alongside a role-selection field on a live registration form. A publicly available proof-of-concept is confirmed via WPScan; no public exploit identified at time of analysis as actively exploited (not in CISA KEV), and EPSS sits at 0.14%, reflecting the dependency on specific site configuration.

RemediationAI

The primary fix is to upgrade Ultimate Member to version 2.12.1 or later, which filters administrator-level capabilities from the roles presented on registration forms and addresses the default-off safeguard. The patch is confirmed available from the vendor per EUVD-2026-51430; see https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/dd394110-cf3c-4158-8b50-7abb8a23a2be/ for the advisory. If immediate upgrade is not possible, site administrators should apply two compensating controls: first, remove any administrator-level capabilities from all custom user roles that are offered via Ultimate Member registration forms (this eliminates the exploitable role target); second, enable the plugin's post-registration elevated-account safeguard in its settings to prevent newly registered accounts with elevated roles from activating. As an additional defensive measure, temporarily removing role-selection fields from published registration forms prevents role manipulation entirely, with the trade-off that user self-selection of role at registration is disabled.

Affected VersionsENISA

Ultimate Member 0 <2.12.1

Affected Packages

euvd ultimate_member fix: 2.12.1

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

Ultimate Member is a widely-used WordPress membership and user-registration plugin. The root cause is CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management): the plugin's registration form builder fails to exclude WordPress user roles that carry administrator-level capabilities from the selectable role list, meaning site admins who create custom roles with elevated caps inadvertently expose them to unauthenticated registrants. A second defense, a post-registration check intended to block accounts that registered with elevated roles, exists in the plugin but is disabled by default - eliminating the compensating control. CPE cpe:2.3:a:unknown:ultimate_member:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covers all releases before 2.12.1. The flaw lives at the intersection of WordPress's native capability system and Ultimate Member's role-assignment logic in the registration pipeline, exploited over a standard HTTP registration POST request.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (WPScan) PRIMARY 8.1 HIGH
AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 8.1 HIGH

AC:H reflects the two required non-default preconditions (admin-capable custom role must exist plus role-selection field on published form); PR:N confirmed by unauthenticated registration path.

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (WPScan).

CVSS VectorVendor: WPScan

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

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Patch available
Jul 31, 2026 - 07:01 EUVD
CVE Published
Jul 31, 2026 - 06:00 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)
CVE Published
Jul 31, 2026 - 06:00 cve.org
HIGH 8.1

DescriptionCVE.org

The Ultimate Member WordPress plugin before 2.12.1 does not filter administrator-level capabilities from the roles it makes selectable on its registration forms, and its post-registration safeguard against elevated accounts is disabled by default, allowing unauthenticated users to register with a site-defined role that carries administrator capabilities and gain administrative access, when such a role exists and a role-selection field is present on a published registration form.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

The Ultimate Member plugin for WordPress (versions before 2.12.1) contains a critical privilege escalation flaw enabling unauthenticated registrants to self-assign administrator access when custom admin roles are configured on registration forms. An attacker requires only a user account to seize complete control of the website, exposing all data, functionality, and customer information. Organizations using this plugin face total site compromise without immediate patching.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 96% exploitable
Prevalence
High
popular WordPress membership plugin with large install base
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
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 HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
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
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

60
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +40
PoC: +20
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.

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