CVE-2026-85659
PilotPress <= 2.0.43 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover via 'username' Parameter
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- Wordfence
Description
The PilotPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 2.0.43. The vulnerability exists because the `update_cc_details()` AJAX handler forwards an attacker-supplied `username` parameter to ONTRAPORT via `api_call('update_cc_details', ...)` before performing the local `username_exists()` collision check, and aborts without rolling back the remote rename when a collision is detected — leaving the remote ONTRAPORT contact renamed to an existing WordPress Administrator's login. On a subsequent login attempt, `user_login()` (hooked to `wp_authenticate`) authenticates against ONTRAPORT using the renamed login and the attacker's own password, resolves the local WordPress user row via `get_user_by('login', $username)` — which now selects the real Administrator's row — and calls `wp_set_password()` against that Administrator's user ID; because the `user_level != 10` guard only suppresses PilotPress's own cookie issuance rather than returning a `WP_Error` to core, WordPress proceeds to validate the newly-synchronized password and issues a full Administrator authentication cookie to the attacker. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above — specifically any PilotPress member holding a valid ONTRAPORT contact and the Customer Center nonce — to fully take over an Administrator account.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordfenceCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.36% · top 70% of all CVEs (6 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.8.
Weakness
Affected products
- affected ≤ 2.0.43
References (6)
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ceee48dd-72a7-49c3-90d5-7af1a30f9ecb?source=cve (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pilotpress/tags/2.0.39/pilotpress.php?rev=3642310#L2380 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pilotpress/tags/2.0.39/pilotpress.php?rev=3642310#L1690 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pilotpress/tags/2.0.39/pilotpress.php?rev=3642310#L1029 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pilotpress/tags/2.0.39/pilotpress.php?rev=3642310#L1099 (opens in a new tab)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3737004 (opens in a new tab)
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2026-85659)Record last updated .