CVE-2026-8848

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder <= 1.22.0 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Editor+) Arbitrary Plugin Installation

2026-07-08 19:34
Sander Horsman

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.23.0
Affected Plugin
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder
Affected Version
<= 1.22.0
CVSS
7.2High
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2026-8848
View all Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-8848 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Popup Maker WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.22.0. 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 Editor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 1.23.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2026, reported by Sander Horsman.

Vulnerability Overview

The Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 1.22.0. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with editor-level access and above, to install and activate an arbitrary plugin from an attacker-controlled URL, leading to remote code execution. Exploitation requires that a valid Popup Maker Pro license is active on the target site and that Popup Maker Pro is not yet installed, as these conditions are necessary for the legacy v1/connect/info endpoint to issue the bearer token used to satisfy the install endpoint's only non-spoofable validation check.

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-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Popup Maker <= 1.22.0 takes an account at Editor level or above. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Popup Maker the fix is 1.23.0: builds <= 1.22.0 are affected, anything from 1.23.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.23.0, 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: Popup Maker 1.23.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-8848https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e05d4320-01d0-40c4-9a9a-457171ef7f5chttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-8848

Related records

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