CVE-2026-9851

Description

The Booking Package plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover in versions up to, and including, 1.7.16. This is due to a missing capability check on the 'updateUser' branch of the package_app_action AJAX endpoint, where the handler only validates a nonce and the dispatcher invokes Schedule::updateUser() with the $administrator argument hard-coded to 1, bypassing the only owner-restriction check inside that function and allowing the target user to be determined solely by attacker-supplied input passed directly to wp_update_user(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Editor-level access and above, to change the email address and password of any account, including Administrator accounts, resulting in a full site takeover.

CVSS v3.1 Score

7.2

HIGH

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

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0035

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-639 CWE-639

References

Other References

https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/booking-package/tags/1.7.13/index.php#L4416 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/booking-package/tags/1.7.13/index.php#L4477 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/booking-package/tags/1.7.13/lib/Schedule.php#L868 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=3558752%40booking-package&new=3558752%40booking-package&sfp_email=&sfph_mail= https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/795c1fd6-137b-4414-8d6b-30053bfb5924?source=cve

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-9851? +

The Booking Package plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover in versions up to, and including, 1.7.16. This is due to a missing capability check on the 'updateUser' branch of the package_app_action AJAX endpoint, where the handler only validates a nonce and the dispatcher invokes Schedule::updateUser() with the $administrator argument hard-coded to 1, bypassing the only owner-restriction check inside that function and allowing the target user to be determined solely by attacker-supplied input passed directly to wp_update_user(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Editor-level access and above, to change the email address and password of any account, including Administrator accounts, resulting in a full site takeover. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.2 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-9851? +

CVE-2026-9851 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.2 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0035, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-9851? +

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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