Groups <= 4.6.0 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via 'groups_join' Shortcode
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-77203 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Wordfence |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-09-26 18:16:29 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-09-26 18:16:29 UTC |
| Description | The Groups – Memberships and Access Control plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.6.0. This is due to the groups_join() function deriving group-join eligibility from the ambient post's author capabilities via the global $post->post_author rather than from the currently authenticated user's own capabilities, while simultaneously minting and returning a valid groups-join-data hash and WordPress nonce for the caller in the same response — eliminating all authorization barriers to self-enrollment. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to enroll themselves into any group including privileged groups carrying the groups_admin_groups capability, and to subsequently create and join a group containing every registered WordPress capability, effectively escalating their privileges to Administrator. Exploitation requires the attacker to supply an Administrator-authored post ID via the post_ID parameter of the authenticated wp_ajax_parse_media_shortcode handler in order to establish the privileged ambient post context used by the flawed authorization check. |
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
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Primary | 8.8 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | DECLARED | 8.8 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
LowUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
HighAvailability
HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Itthinx | Groups Memberships And Access Control | affected 4.6.0 semver | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groups/tags/4.5.0/lib/views/class-groups-shortcodes.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groups/tags/4.5.0/lib/wp/class-groups-wordpress.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3693123/groups | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groups/tags/4.5.0/lib/views/class-groups-shortcodes.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groups/tags/4.5.0/lib/views/class-groups-shortcodes.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e86dddc9-c1d3-426b-8ec7-2e56d... | [email protected] | www.wordfence.com | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groups/tags/4.5.0/lib/views/class-groups-shortcodes.php | [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: daroo (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-09-26T04:34:00.000Z | Disclosed |
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.