Privilege escalation in User Frontend WordPress plugin
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Privilege escalation
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-269.
Summary
The User Frontend WordPress plugin by wedevs is affected in all versions through 4.3.13. A filter that blocks protected shortcodes in submitted post content can be bypassed, so the plugin stores a shortcode it should have blocked (CWE-269). An authenticated attacker with Subscriber-level access or higher can publish a post that shows a public Editor registration form, which any visitor can submit to create an Editor account with an active session when autologin after registration is enabled.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-01
Description from the CNA
The User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.3.13 via the `post_content` parameter of the `submit_post()` function. The vulnerability exists because the protected-shortcode blocklist guard inspects the `sanitize_textarea_field()` copy of the submitted `post_content`, while the copy actually persisted to the database is processed through `wp_kses()`, whose `wp_kses_no_null()` step strips C0 control bytes — allowing an attacker to inject a single `\x01` byte inside the `[wpuf-registration]` tag name to defeat the `strpos()` blocklist check while the clean, functional shortcode is stored verbatim; `strip_shortcodes()` does not neutralize the stored shortcode either, because the Frontend container that registers it via `add_shortcode()` is only instantiated when `is_admin()` is false, and `admin-ajax` requests have `is_admin() === true`. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to inject a `[wpuf-registration role="editor"]` shortcode into a published post, causing a live Editor-role registration form to be rendered publicly on the frontend that any visitor — or the attacker themselves — can submit to mint a WordPress Editor account with an immediately active privileged session when the default `autologin_after_registration` setting is enabled.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| weDevs | User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission | up to 4.3.13 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission VendorweDevs Affected up to 4.3.13 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
Remediation
The sources list no fixed version for User Frontend (Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-01
Timeline
- 2026-10-31 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-120070
- 2026-10-31 Alias added: GHSA-558h-x4v5-3hwr
- 2026-11-01 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-11-06 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
References
Other 6
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f84b6767-f254-45c9-8e78-36d4beac2a98?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.3.13/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php#L253
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.3.13/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php#L132
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.3.13/includes/Frontend/Registration.php#L116
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.3.13/includes/Frontend/Registration.php#L362
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3770255/wp-user-frontend/trunk/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php
More weDevs vulnerabilities
- TI-2021-06932 WP User Frontend < 3.5.29 - Obscure Registration as Admin CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-03660 Dokan Pro <= 3.10.3 - Unauthenticated SQL Injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2024-11873 WP ERP < 1.13.4 - Custom+ Unauthorized Access to Terminated Employee Information CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-11148 SQL Injection in WordPress Project Manager Plugin CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.7
- TI-2023-02570 WP ERP < 1.12.4 - Admin+ SQL Injection CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.2
- TI-2023-02569 WP ERP < 1.12.4 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.1
Sources
- CVE-2026-120070 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-120070 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-558h-x4v5-3hwr · 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