WP Password Policy <= 3.7.1 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-15992
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerWordfence
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-07-28 19:17:31 UTC
Updated2026-07-28 19:17:31 UTC
DescriptionThe WP Password Policy plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to and including 3.7.1. This is due to missing authorization checks and nonce verification in the `get_user()` function of the `Module_Password_Hint` class, which unconditionally calls `WP_User::set_role()` with the attacker-supplied `role` parameter on any account resolved via `$_POST['user_login']`, without confirming the requesting user holds the capability to assign roles. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to escalate their own privileges to Administrator by submitting a crafted POST request — with `action` set to `createuser` and `role` set to `administrator` — to the password-reset form endpoint. The vulnerable code path is reachable via the `password_hint` filter hooked during the WordPress password-reset form render, meaning an attacker need only possess a valid password-reset cookie to reach the sink.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 8.8 HIGH from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-269 | CWE-269 CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary8.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED8.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Teydeastudio WP Password Policy affected 3.7.1 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/4ad5ca1c-b8c3-42c0-8170-821ad... [email protected] www.wordfence.com
plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/password-requirements/tags/3.7.1/src/modules/password... [email protected] plugins.trac.wordpress.org
plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/password-requirements/tags/3.7.1/src/modules/password... [email protected] plugins.trac.wordpress.org
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: zickzick2 (en)

Additional Advisory Data

SourceTimeEvent
CNA2026-07-17T07:03:43.000ZVendor Notified
CNA2026-07-27T19:12:43.000ZDisclosed

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