MDJM Event Management <= 1.7.8.4 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via 'set-permissions' and 'change_role' Handlers
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.7.8.5
- Affected Plugin
- MDJM Event Management
- Affected Version
<= 1.7.8.4- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
- CVE
CVE-2026-15017
At a glance
CVE-2026-15017 is a high-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the MDJM Event Management WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.7.8.4. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 1.7.8.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2026, reported by moonge.
Vulnerability Overview
The MDJM Event Management plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.7.8.4. This is due to missing capability checks and nonce verification in the `MDJM_Permissions::set_permissions()` and `MDJM_Employee_Manager::init()` functions, combined with the absence of server-side allow-list validation on the `employee_roles[]` and `new_role` POST parameters before they are passed to `mdjm_set_employee_role()` and `WP_User::set_role()`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to grant arbitrary MDJM capabilities — including `mdjm_employee` and `mdjm_employee_edit` — to any registered WordPress role, and subsequently leverage a subscriber-level account to escalate privileges to Administrator. `MDJM_Permissions::init()` is registered on the public WordPress `init` hook without any authentication gate, meaning the role-manipulation endpoint is reachable without any prior login.
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
MDJM Event Management <= 1.7.8.4 carries this weakness at set_permissions(), and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber 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 MDJM Event Management the fix is 1.7.8.5: builds <= 1.7.8.4 are affected, anything from 1.7.8.5 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.7.8.5, 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: MDJM Event Management 1.7.8.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in MDJM Event Management
- 8.8CVE-2025-52824: MDJM Event Management <= 1.7.6 Privilege Escalation
CVE-2025-52824 - 8.8CVE-2025-31074: MDJM Event Management <= 1.7.5.2 PHP Object Injection
CVE-2025-31074 - 7.2CVE-2026-7537: MDJM Event Management <= 1.7.8.3 Arbitrary File Upload
CVE-2026-7537 - 6.1CVE-2025-22714: MDJM Event Management <= 1.7.5.6 Reflected XSS
CVE-2025-22714 - 5.3CVE-2026-1650: MDJM Event Management Unauthenticated Arbitrary Custom
CVE-2026-1650
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C