Missing authorization in OpenStation lets users change placements
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-862.
Summary
OpenStation WordPress plugin versions up to and including 1.1.16 do not properly verify that a user is authorized to perform an action (CWE-862). Authenticated attackers with subscriber-level access or higher can modify other users' placement rows and read serialized metadata, including titles, permalinks and post status, of the entities referenced by orphaned placements. Exploitation requires at least one orphaned placement, which the plugin's own trash process can leave behind, and the attacker must first enable OpenStation through an AJAX endpoint that any logged-in user can call.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-31
Description from the CNA
The OpenStation: Desktop Windows, Dock & Virtual Desktops for WP Admin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 1.1.16. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to modify arbitrary other users' placement rows (position, sort order, parent folder, and meta) and read serialized metadata — including title, permalink, and post status — of the entities those orphaned placements reference. Exploitation requires at least one orphaned placement to exist — a state produced naturally by the plugin's own trash cascade, which marks a parent folder as trashed while leaving child placements' parent_id intact — and the attacker must first self-enable OpenStation via the save-openstation AJAX endpoint, which requires only the 'read' capability held by every default WordPress role. This was also independently found by the OpenStation team.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| wordpressdotorg | OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA | up to 1.1.16 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA Vendorwordpressdotorg Affected up to 1.1.16 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
Remediation
The sources list no fixed version for OpenStation.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-31
Timeline
- 2026-10-30 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-109592
- 2026-10-30 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-30 Alias added: GHSA-hrw5-8ff3-3cgr
References
Other 6
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a62e499d-6520-4bad-963a-ff7619daa5f8?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/desktop-mode/tags/1.1.13/includes/desktop-files/store.php#L254
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/desktop-mode/tags/1.1.13/includes/desktop-files/rest.php#L517
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/desktop-mode/tags/1.1.13/includes/desktop-files/folders-store.php#L618
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/desktop-mode/tags/1.1.13/includes/desktop-files/rest.php#L57
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3761843%40desktop-mode&new=3761843%40desktop-mode
More wordpressdotorg vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-12909 WordPress Importer <= 0.8.3 - Authenticated (Administrator+) PHP Object Injection CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.2
Sources
- CVE-2026-109592 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-109592 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-hrw5-8ff3-3cgr · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences