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Missing authorization in OpenStation lets users change placements

Priority LOW 20CWE-862Published · Updated

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

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00345 28th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet

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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
wordpressdotorgOpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWAup to 1.1.16—No fix listedCNA
  • 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

  1. 2026-10-30 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-109592
  2. 2026-10-30 CISA SSVC decision points changed
  3. 2026-10-30 Alias added: GHSA-hrw5-8ff3-3cgr

References

  • TI-2024-12909 WordPress Importer <= 0.8.3 - Authenticated (Administrator+) PHP Object Injection CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.2

Sources