Authentication bypass in Easy Digital Downloads allows admin takeover
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- 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-287.
Summary
All Easy Digital Downloads versions through 3.7.2 for WordPress are affected. During PayPal guest checkout, the plugin trusts the email address entered and binds the order to a matching existing user, then logs that user in. An unauthenticated attacker who starts a guest checkout with an administrator's email address receives an authenticated session as that administrator. The flaw is CWE-287, Improper Authentication.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-03
Description from the CNA
The Easy Digital Downloads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass leading to administrator account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 3.7.2. During a PayPal guest checkout, the email address entered in the guest-checkout field is trusted as proof of identity: edd_get_purchase_form_user() binds the new guest order to an existing WordPress user purely on an email-address match, rewriting the order's user_id to that user's ID. The PayPal capture sink PurchaseUser::maybe_log_in_after_capture() then looked the user up by the order email (get_user_by( 'email', $order->email )) and, when $order->user_id equalled that user's ID (which the email-binding step guarantees), issued an authenticated session with wp_set_auth_cookie(). An unauthenticated attacker who starts a guest checkout using an administrator's email address (where that administrator has no existing EDD customer record) and completes the PayPal purchase flow therefore receives an authenticated session as that administrator — a full account takeover. The same sink is reachable through the standard PayPal checkout and the REST UnbrandedCard and Fastlane flows.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| smub | Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy | up to 3.7.2 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy Vendorsmub Affected up to 3.7.2 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:awesomemotive:easy_digital_downloads:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | Awesomemotive |
- cpe:2.3:a:awesomemotive:easy_digital_downloads:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Awesomemotive
Remediation
The sources list no fixed version for Easy Digital Downloads.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-03
Timeline
- 2026-11-03 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-120538
- 2026-11-03 Alias added: GHSA-857c-39q5-mhcq
- 2026-11-04 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-08 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 7
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f4250328-6d6c-4eb1-9ef2-334774c1d337?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/user-functions.php#L428
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/customers/customer-actions.php#L49
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/orders/functions/orders.php#L798
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/src/Gateways/PayPal/V3/PurchaseUser.php#L174
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/gateways/paypal/checkout-actions.php#L681
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-digital-downloads/
More smub vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-07755 WPCode <= 2.3.5 - Authenticated (Author+) Remote Code Execution via CPT Capability Bypass via XML-RPC wp.newPost CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-83530 Remote code execution in NextGEN Gallery plugin for WordPress CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-78567 PHP object injection in Duplicator and Duplicator Pro plugins CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-01649 ExactMetrics 8.6.0 - 9.0.2 - Authenticated (Custom) Insecure Direct Object Reference to Arbitrary Plugin Installation CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-01160 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery <= 4.0.4 - Authenticated (Author+) Local File Inclusion CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2025-12465 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery <= 3.59.12 - Authenticated… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-120538 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-120538 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-857c-39q5-mhcq · 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