Groundhogg <= 4.9 - Authenticated (Sales Person+) Privilege Escalation via Contact Identity Rebinding leading to Administrator Account Takeover to 'user_id' Parameter (v3 /contacts) chained with v4 /emails/test
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-97644 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Wordfence |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-10-03 04:18:04 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-10-03 16:16:49 UTC |
| Description | The Groundhogg — CRM, Newsletters, and Marketing Automation plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Contact Identity Rebinding in all versions up to, and including, 4.9 The vulnerability exists because the `create_contact` function in the v3 REST endpoint (`POST /gh/v3/contacts`) is gated solely by the `add_contacts` capability and forwards the full request payload — including the security-bearing `user_id` column — into the upsert path of `Contacts_DB::add()`, which bypasses the ownership guard that `Contacts_DB::update()` enforces, allowing an attacker to rebind any existing contact record to an arbitrary WordPress user ID. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Sales Representative-level access and above to upsert their own contact row to point to an Administrator's user ID, then invoke the v4 email-test endpoint (`POST /gh/v4/emails/test`) — also accessible to the Sales Representative role via the `send_emails` capability — to generate an `{auto_login_url}` one-time permissions key bound to the rebound contact, and consume that link to call `wp_set_auth_cookie()` and gain a fully authenticated session as the WordPress Administrator. |
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] | Secondary | 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 | Trainingbusinesspros | Groundhogg CRM Newsletters And Marketing Automation | affected 4.9 semver | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groundhogg/tags/4.8.3/includes/replacements.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/557306b7-7b66-465e-8d4d-ebae5... | [email protected] | www.wordfence.com | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groundhogg/tags/4.8.3/api/v4/emails-api.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groundhogg/tags/4.8.3/db/contacts.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groundhogg/tags/4.8.3/includes/rewrites.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groundhogg/tags/4.8.3/api/v3/contacts-api.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/groundhogg/tags/4.8.3/includes/main-roles.php | [email protected] | plugins.trac.wordpress.org | |
| plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3724910/groundhogg/trunk/api/v3/contacts-api.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: Supakiad S. (m3ez) (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-09-24T18:35:22.000Z | Vendor Notified |
| CNA | 2026-10-02T14:47:56.000Z | Disclosed |
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.