CVE-2025-14533

Advanced Custom Fields: Extended <= 0.9.2.1 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation via Insert User Form Action

2026-01-19 21:07
andrea bocchetti

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 0.9.2.2
Affected Plugin
Advanced Custom Fields: Extended
Affected Version
<= 0.9.2.1
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
CVE
CVE-2025-14533
View all Advanced Custom Fields: Extended vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2025-14533 is a critical-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the Advanced Custom Fields WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 0.9.2.1. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 0.9.2.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2026, reported by andrea bocchetti.

Vulnerability Overview

The Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 0.9.2.1. This is due to the 'insert_user' function not restricting the roles with which a user can register. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to supply the 'administrator' role during registration and gain administrator access to the site. Note: The vulnerability can only be exploited if 'role' is mapped to the custom field.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management

Advanced Custom Fields <= 0.9.2.1 carries this weakness at insert_user, and reaching it takes no account at all. Improper privilege management means the code lets an account end up with capabilities its role should not have.

It converts a low-privileged account into an administrative one, which makes every other restriction on the site irrelevant. For Advanced Custom Fields the fix is 0.9.2.2: builds <= 0.9.2.1 are affected, anything from 0.9.2.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 0.9.2.2, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: Advanced Custom Fields 0.9.2.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-14533https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d44f8af2-3525-4b00-afa8-a908250cc838https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-14533

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C