Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate as low-privilege user
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ExploitSend crafted request to unprotected endpoint
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ExecutionBypass missing authorization check
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ImpactModify protected data unauthorized
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Authorization checks on every request
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 session with at least a low-privilege WordPress account on a site running the ProfilePress (wp-user-avatar) plugin at version 4.17.3 or earlier (PR:L). No user interaction is needed (UI:N) and the request is remote over the network (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L). The primary limiting factor is the authentication requirement: an attacker must first obtain or register a valid account, so sites that disable open user registration or restrict account creation meaningfully reduce exposure. Impact is confined to integrity (I:H) - unauthorized modification of data - with no direct confidentiality or availability effect per the vector. |
| Impact | This is a moderate-priority issue whose signals are largely consistent. The provided CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N, base 6.5) describes a network-reachable, low-complexity flaw that requires some authenticated privilege (PR:L) and yields a high integrity impact with no confidentiality or availability impact - matching the CWE-862 Missing Authorization root cause (an authenticated low-privilege user can perform actions they should not be authorized for). No EPSS score, CISA KEV listing, POC reference, or SSVC decision data was supplied, so exploitation probability and active-exploitation status cannot be quantified from this input; the absence of these signals is not evidence of safety but it does mean there is no indication of mass exploitation. The single reference is a Patchstack advisory (Patchstack is the reporting source), which is a credible vulnerability intelligence provider for the WordPress ecosystem. Net: a real, patch-worthy broken-access-control bug in an authenticated context, but not currently a drop-everything emergency absent evidence of exploitation. Note a minor tension to verify: the vector states PR:L (authenticated) while the title phrase 'Authentication Bypass' tag implies no auth - treat the CVSS PR:L as authoritative for the privilege requirement and confirm the exact required role with the vendor. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who already holds a low-privilege authenticated account (e.g., a subscriber-level WordPress user) on a site running ProfilePress 4.17.3 or earlier sends a crafted request to a plugin endpoint that fails to properly check authorization, allowing them to modify data or perform privileged actions they should not be permitted to. The high integrity impact (I:H) suggests the attacker can alter protected resources such as user profile or account data. No public exploit code was identified in the provided data. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 09, 2026
Missing authorization in the ProfilePress (wp-user-avatar) WordPress plugin through 4.17.3 allows an authenticated user with only low privileges to perform state-changing actions that should require higher-level capabilities, resulting in unauthorized modification of site data. The flaw is exploitable remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N, base score 6.5), with impact confined to integrity; confidentiality and availability are unaffected per the assessed vector. No public exploit code and no active exploitation have been identified at time of analysis, and exposure is meaningfully reduced on sites that restrict or disable open user registration, since the attacker must first hold a valid low-privilege WordPress account.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch was identified at time of analysis, so the first action is to watch the Patchstack advisory (https://patchstack.com/database/wordpress/plugin/wp-user-avatar/vulnerability/wordpress-profilepress-plugin-4-17-3-broken-access-control-vulnerability-2?_s_id=cve) and the plugin's WordPress.org update channel, and to upgrade to the first release above 4.17.3 as soon as it is published; do not assume any specific higher version is fixed until the vendor confirms it. Until then, apply compensating controls that directly address the PR:L precondition: disable open user registration and self-service account creation (Settings > General in WordPress or the plugin's own registration settings) so unauthenticated parties cannot obtain the low-privilege account the attack requires - the trade-off is that legitimate new-user signups stop and must be created manually by an administrator. Audit existing accounts and remove or downgrade unused subscriber accounts, since any valid low-privilege login is a sufficient starting point; this reduces the pool of accounts that can reach the vulnerable code path but does not fix the missing capability check itself. If the plugin's profile/user-avatar features are not needed, deactivate and remove it entirely (trade-off: loss of profile, avatar, and membership functionality, plus possible front-end layout changes). WAF or virtual-patching rules that block the plugin's state-changing admin-ajax.php and REST actions are an option, but they must be tuned carefully to avoid breaking legitimate profile updates. Note that no public exploit code has been identified, so emergency mitigation urgency is driven by the moderate 6.5 score rather than by observed attacks.
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 vulnerability is a case of CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) in ProfilePress, the WordPress plugin distributed under the slug wp-user-avatar and maintained by ProperFraction. Missing authorization means the affected code path performs a privileged operation without verifying that the calling user holds the required capability (for example, a capability check such as current_user_can() or a corresponding nonce/role validation is absent or incorrectly configured). WordPress plugins commonly expose such operations through admin-ajax.php handlers or REST API routes, where the endpoint runs but the capability gate is omitted, letting any authenticated account - including a subscriber-level user - trigger functionality intended for administrators or editors. The product is tracked as CPE cpe:2.3:a:properfraction:profilepress:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* and as ENISA EUVD-2026-95594, with all versions up to and including 4.17.3 reported as affected. Because the CVSS vector specifies PR:L, exploitation presupposes an authenticated session rather than anonymous access, which places the root cause in the access-control layer rather than in authentication itself.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Missing authorization reachable over the network at low complexity requires a low-privilege authenticated account (PR:L), yields unauthorized data modification (I:H) with no confidentiality or availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (Patchstack).
CVSS VectorVendor: Patchstack
DescriptionCVE.org
Missing Authorization vulnerability in properfraction ProfilePress wp-user-avatar allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects ProfilePress: from n/a through 4.17.3.
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
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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EUVD-2026-95594
GHSA-5vh5-cm4h-73jr
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB