CVE-2026-109447: Privilege Escalation (CVSS 8.1)

Description

The User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.3 via the `role` parameter handled by the `wppb_add_meta_to_user_on_activation()` function. The vulnerability exists because the activation handler passes the attacker-supplied role value directly to `WP_User::set_role()` with no allow-list validation, and the 4.0.3 reserved-name check exempts pre-existing form fields from the block, allowing a legacy field with meta-name `role` to persist and bridge attacker-controlled request input into the serialized signup record stored in `wp_signups`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to gain a fully activated WordPress administrator account by submitting `role=administrator` through the public `[wppb-register]` shortcode form and subsequently clicking the confirmation activation link. Exploitation requires the site to have a legacy form field with meta-name `role` carried over from before the 4.0.3 upgrade, email confirmation enabled, and open user registration — all stable site-state conditions once established.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

8.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0034

Probability of exploitation

0.27%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-269 CWE-269

References

Other References

https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/admin/admin-functions.php#L400 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/features/email-confirmation/email-confirmation.php#L262 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/front-end/class-formbuilder.php#L736 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/front-end/class-formbuilder.php#L793 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/front-end/register.php#L91 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3741133/profile-builder https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3741133/profile-builder/trunk/features/email-confirmation/email-confirmation.php https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/88bfd754-e2ee-47c7-9af5-f31cbe993102?source=cve

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-109447? +

The User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.3 via the `role` parameter handled by the `wppb_add_meta_to_user_on_activation()` function. The vulnerability exists because the activation handler passes the attacker-supplied role value directly to `WP_User::set_role()` with no allow-list validation, and the 4.0.3 reserved-name check exempts pre-existing form fields from the block, allowing a legacy field with meta-name `role` to persist and bridge attacker-controlled request input into the serialized signup record stored in `wp_signups`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to gain a fully activated WordPress administrator account by submitting `role=administrator` through the public `[wppb-register]` shortcode form and subsequently clicking the confirmation activation link. Exploitation requires the site to have a legacy form field with meta-name `role` carried over from before the 4.0.3 upgrade, email confirmation enabled, and open user registration — all stable site-state conditions once established. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-109447? +

CVE-2026-109447 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.1 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0034, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-109447? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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