Multiple Roles < 1.3.7 - Privilege Escalation
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.3.7
- Affected Plugin
- Multiple Roles
- Affected Version
< 1.3.7- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-285 · Improper Authorization
- CVE
CVE pending
At a glance
This record tracks a high-severity Improper Authorization vulnerability in the Multiple Roles WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 1.3.7. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The issue is fixed in version 1.3.7; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2022.
Vulnerability Overview
The Multiple Roles plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions before 1.3.7. This could allow authenticated attackers to escalate their privileges by updating user roles on the site.
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-285: Improper Authorization
Reaching this weakness in Multiple Roles < 1.3.7 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper authorization means a permission check exists but does not cover the case being exercised, so a caller who is allowed to do one thing is allowed to do a neighbouring thing as well.
A lower-privileged account performs an action reserved for a higher one, which on a multi-author or membership site means an ordinary user reaching administrative behaviour. For Multiple Roles the fix is 1.3.7: builds < 1.3.7 are affected, anything from 1.3.7 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.3.7, 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: Multiple Roles 1.3.7 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Multiple Roles
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