PublishPress Capabilities <= 2.50.0 - Authenticated (Editor+) Privilege Escalation to Fresh-Install Default Capability Grant

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-75927
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerWordfence
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-09-09 08:17:21 UTC
Updated2026-09-09 08:17:21 UTC
DescriptionThe PublishPress Capabilities – User Role Editor, Access Permissions, User Capabilities, Admin Menus plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.50.0. This is due to the `addPluginCapabilities()` function unconditionally granting the Editor role all 15 `manage_capabilities_*` capabilities — including `manage_capabilities`, `manage_capabilities_roles`, `manage_capabilities_settings`, and `manage_capabilities_backup` — via a hard-coded `$eligible_roles = ['administrator', 'editor']` assignment that runs automatically on the first `admin_init` after plugin activation with no administrator opt-in, persisting the grants directly to the database. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Editor-level access to elevate their privileges to a site-wide capability manager, enabling them to create, rename, and delete non-system roles, modify capabilities of non-administrator roles, restore role backups, and write arbitrary plugin options whose names begin with `cme_`, `capsman`, `pp_capabilities`, or `presspermit` via `update_option()`. The escalation stops short of full Administrator access, as WordPress's `map_meta_cap` layer still prevents the escalated Editor from granting administrator-only capabilities to other roles; however, all role-management and plugin-settings functionality gated solely on `manage_capabilities_*` capabilities remains fully accessible.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.2 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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]Primary7.2HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED7.2HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Publishpress User Role Editor PublishPress Capabilities Access Control And User Roles affected 2.50.0 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/capability-manager-enhanced/tags/2.50.0/includes/sett... [email protected] plugins.trac.wordpress.org
plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset [email protected] plugins.trac.wordpress.org
plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/capability-manager-enhanced/tags/2.50.0/includes/func... [email protected] plugins.trac.wordpress.org
www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/2f35ab5c-f897-404b-92ea-71bf1... [email protected] www.wordfence.com
plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/capability-manager-enhanced/tags/2.50.0/includes/admi... [email protected] plugins.trac.wordpress.org
plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/capability-manager-enhanced/tags/2.50.0/includes/mana... [email protected] plugins.trac.wordpress.org
plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/capability-manager-enhanced/tags/2.50.0/classes/pp-ca... [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: Wordfence PRISM (en)

Additional Advisory Data

SourceTimeEvent
CNA2026-08-18T15:54:21.000ZVendor Notified
CNA2026-09-08T18:41:31.000ZDisclosed

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