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Privilege escalation in BuddyForms lets anonymous users gain admin

Priority MEDIUM 50CWE-269Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
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 BuddyForms plugin for WordPress is affected in versions up to and including 2.10.5. Improper privilege management lets logged-out users insert a rogue form configuration through the public form submission flow and then register an account with administrator privileges (CWE-269). An unauthenticated remote attacker can take over the full site when the site allows anyone to register and at least one public BuddyForms form is attached to a page.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

Description from the CNA

The BuddyForms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.10.5 via a form-type confusion attack through the `bf_post_type` parameter. This is due to the public frontend submission handler `buddyforms_form_response_no_ajax()` authorizing logged-out submissions based solely on the target form's `public_submit` flag while independently trusting the attacker-supplied `$_POST['bf_post_type']` to determine the post type of the newly created object — a cross-check introduced in 2.10.2 applies only to existing posts (`post_id != 0`) and is completely bypassed for new-object creation — combined with the `save_post` listener `buddyforms_edit_form_save_meta_box_data()` lacking both a `current_user_can()` capability check and a form-builder nonce, causing it to unconditionally persist attacker-supplied `$_POST['buddyforms_options']` for any newly inserted `buddyforms` CPT post. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to insert a rogue BuddyForms form configuration with an attacker-controlled `new_user_role` value into the live global form registry, then submit a registration through that form to create a new WordPress account with administrator-level privileges and achieve full site takeover. Exploitation requires the WordPress site to have "Anyone can register" enabled and at least one public BuddyForms form attached to a page, both of which are standard BuddyForms deployment configurations.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00736 54th 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
Yes
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
themekraftBuddyFormsup to 2.10.5—No fix listedCNA
  • BuddyForms Vendorthemekraft Affected up to 2.10.5 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:themekraft:buddyforms:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——themekraft
  • cpe:2.3:a:themekraft:buddyforms:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·themekraft

Remediation

The sources list no fixed version for BuddyForms.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

Timeline

  1. 2026-11-06 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-107622
  2. 2026-11-06 Alias added: GHSA-7gvp-gcxq-58g5
  3. 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed

References

  • TI-2023-11479 Deserialization of untrusted data in BuddyForms WordPress Plugin CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2018-14965 The buddyforms plugin before 2.2.8 for WordPress has SQL injection. CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2025-23249 WordPress BuddyForms plugin <= 2.10.2 - Local File Inclusion vulnerability CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2024-01885 Deserialization of untrusted data in themekraft BuddyPress WooCommerce My Account… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2024-21490 WordPress WooBuddy plugin <= 3.4.20 - PHP Object Injection vulnerability CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2024-07644 Improper privilege management in themekraft Post Form – Registration Form – Profile Form… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
See all 25 →

Sources