Privilege escalation in GiveWP donation plugin via donor default role
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 GiveWP donation plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in all versions through 4.19.1 via the donor_default_user_role setting. Improper privilege management (CWE-269) lets the setting store elevated roles, and the JSON import path stores Administrator too. An authenticated attacker with the GiveWP Manager role can assign these roles to every new donor account.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05
Description from the CNA
The GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.19.1 via the `donor_default_user_role` parameter. This is due to the `sanitize_option_donor_default_user_role()` function applying only a narrow literal check against the string `'administrator'` rather than enforcing the plugin's own `give_get_donor_safe_user_roles()` allowlist on save, and due to the `give_core_settings_import_callback()` AJAX handler writing imported JSON directly into the `give_settings` option via `update_option()` without invoking the sanitize filter at all. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with the GiveWP Manager role (holding the `manage_give_settings` capability) and above to configure donor registration to assign privileged WordPress roles — up to and including Administrator via the import path — to every new donor account created through the platform. Via the settings save path, the Administrator role is blocked but any other elevated role (Editor, Author, etc.) is accepted; via the Tools › Import JSON path, the sanitize filter is bypassed entirely, allowing the Administrator role itself to be stored and subsequently applied to all newly registered donor accounts.
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
Remediation
The sources list no fixed version for GiveWP (Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05
Timeline
- 2026-11-05 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-118193
- 2026-11-05 Alias added: GHSA-cg38-f4xr-fwg3
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-11-05 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-06 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
References
Other 6
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f2ab1544-2428-4c93-b973-8280ff7a2903?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/give/tags/4.19.0/includes/admin/settings/class-settings-advanced.php#L436
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/give/tags/4.19.0/includes/admin/admin-actions.php#L971
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/give/tags/4.19.0/includes/process-donation.php#L1200
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/give/tags/4.19.0/src/Donors/Actions/CreateUserFromDonor.php#L23
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3782355/give/trunk/includes/admin/settings/class-settings-advanced.php
More stellarwp vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-05498 Deserialization of untrusted data in stellarwp GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2023-02655 BookIt <= 2.3.7 - Authentication Bypass CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-07671 The Events Calendar <= 6.6.4 - Unauthenticated SQL Injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-03888 The Events Calendar < 6.4.0.1 - Reflected XSS CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2024-07745 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform <= 3.16.1 - Unauthenticated PHP Object Injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-04952 The Events Calendar < 6.8.2.1 - Unauthenticated Password Protected Event Disclosure CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-118193 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-118193 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-cg38-f4xr-fwg3 · 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