CVE-2026-4297

Description

The Welcome Software Publishing plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Options Update in all versions up to and including 0.0.31. This is due to a missing capability check in the nc_setOption() function, which is exposed via the nc.setOption XML-RPC method. The function authenticates the user via $wp_xmlrpc_server->login() (verifying credentials are valid) but does not perform any authorization check such as current_user_can('manage_options'). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to update arbitrary WordPress options via XML-RPC requests. This can be leveraged to change the default_role option to 'administrator' and then register a new administrator account, achieving full privilege escalation and site takeover.

CVSS v3.1 Score

8.8

HIGH

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

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0046

Probability of exploitation

0.37%

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-862 Missing Authorization

References

Other References

https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/tags/0.0.31/newscred.php#L264 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/tags/0.0.31/newscred.php#L265 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/tags/0.0.31/newscred.php#L272 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/tags/0.0.31/newscred.php#L44 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/trunk/newscred.php#L264 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/trunk/newscred.php#L265 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/trunk/newscred.php#L272 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/trunk/newscred.php#L44 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/47e53fd3-4e3f-433a-8e70-3a58c864184a?source=cve

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-4297? +

The Welcome Software Publishing plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Options Update in all versions up to and including 0.0.31. This is due to a missing capability check in the nc_setOption() function, which is exposed via the nc.setOption XML-RPC method. The function authenticates the user via $wp_xmlrpc_server->login() (verifying credentials are valid) but does not perform any authorization check such as current_user_can('manage_options'). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to update arbitrary WordPress options via XML-RPC requests. This can be leveraged to change the default_role option to 'administrator' and then register a new administrator account, achieving full privilege escalation and site takeover. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-4297? +

CVE-2026-4297 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.8 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0046, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-4297? +

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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