Login as User <= 1.0.3 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via 'oclaup_original_admin' Cookie
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- Login as User – Switch User & WooCommerce Login as Customer
- Affected Version
<= 1.0.1- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
- CVE
CVE-2026-5617
At a glance
CVE-2026-5617 is a high-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the Login as User WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.0.1. 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. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed April 2026, reported by BaroHaf.
Vulnerability Overview
The Login as User plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.3. This is due to the handle_return_to_admin() function trusting a client-controlled cookie (oclaup_original_admin) to determine which user to authenticate as, without any server-side verification that the cookie value was legitimately set during an admin-initiated user switch. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to escalate their privileges to administrator by setting the oclaup_original_admin cookie to an administrator's user ID and triggering the "Return to Admin" functionality.
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-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
Login as User <= 1.0.1 carries this weakness at handle_return_to_admin(), and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. Authorization bypass through a user-controlled key, often called insecure direct object reference, means the application looks up a record by an identifier from the request without checking that the caller owns it.
Changing a number in the request is enough to read or modify other users' records, which on commerce and membership sites means customer data. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Login as User yet, so installs running <= 1.0.1 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
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. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C