CVE-2026-16534

Import and export users and customers <= 2.4.1 - Authenticated (Admin+) Privilege Escalation

2026-07-23 00:00
Charles Vosburgh

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.4.2
Affected Plugin
Import and export users and customers
Affected Version
<= 2.4.1
CVSS
7.2High
Weakness type
CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
CVE
CVE-2026-16534
View all Import and export users and customers vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-16534 is a high-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the Import and export users and customers WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.4.1. It carries a CVSS score of 7.2 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Admin level or above. The issue is fixed in version 2.4.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2026, reported by Charles Vosburgh.

Vulnerability Overview

The Import and export users and customers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in versions up to, and including, 2.4.1. This is due to missing capability check for the promote_users permission and missing validation of imported roles against the editable_roles list during CSV import processing. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with administrator-level access, to assign arbitrary roles, including administrator, to users via CSV import, effectively escalating privileges.

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 interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management

Reaching this weakness in Import and export users and customers <= 2.4.1 takes an account at Admin level or above. 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 Import and export users and customers the fix is 2.4.2: builds <= 2.4.1 are affected, anything from 2.4.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.4.2, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Import and export users and customers 2.4.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16534https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d00b128a-f6ce-47e4-a5d8-4999efc9b569https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16534

Related records

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