CVE-2026-120070 json
User Frontend <= 4.3.13 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via post_content Parameter
published 2026-10-31 8 d ago modified 2026-11-06 2 d ago also EUVD-2026-114657
- cvss
- 8.8
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.3%
- EPSS 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 23%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
The User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.3.13 via the `post_content` parameter of the `submit_post()` function. The vulnerability exists because the protected-shortcode blocklist guard inspects the `sanitize_textarea_field()` copy of the submitted `post_content`, while the copy actually persisted to the database is processed through `wp_kses()`, whose `wp_kses_no_null()` step strips C0 control bytes — allowing an attacker to inject a single `\x01` byte inside the `[wpuf-registration]` tag name to defeat the `strpos()` blocklist check while the clean, functional shortcode is stored verbatim; `strip_shortcodes()` does not neutralize the stored shortcode either, because the Frontend container that registers it via `add_shortcode()` is only instantiated when `is_admin()` is false, and `admin-ajax` requests have `is_admin() === true`. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to inject a `[wpuf-registration role="editor"]` shortcode into a published post, causing a live Editor-role registration form to be rendered publicly on the frontend that any visitor — or the attacker themselves — can submit to mint a WordPress Editor account with an immediately active privileged session when the default `autologin_after_registration` setting is enabled.
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- total
- Assessed
- 2 d ago
Exploit prediction
0.30% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 23% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 3.1 | 8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
Affected products
- wedevs User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
References
- wordfence.com /threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f84b6767-f254-45c9-8e78-36d4beac2a98?source=cve
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org /browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.3.13/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php#L253
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org /browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.3.13/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php#L132
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org /browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.3.13/includes/Frontend/Registration.php#L116
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org /browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.3.13/includes/Frontend/Registration.php#L362
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org /changeset/3770255/wp-user-frontend/trunk/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-120070
- NVD CVE-2026-120070
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