Post Duplicator <= 3.0.8 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Contributor+) Protected Post Meta Insertion via 'customMetaData' Parameter

2026-02-24 21:12
bashu

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.0.9
Affected PluginPost Duplicator
Affected Version<= 3.0.8
CVSS4.3Medium
CVECVE-2026-2301
View all Post Duplicator vulnerabilities

Vulnerability Overview

The Post Duplicator plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized arbitrary protected post meta insertion in all versions up to, and including, 3.0.8. This is due to the `duplicate_post()` function in `includes/api.php` using `$wpdb->insert()` directly to the `wp_postmeta` table instead of WordPress's standard `add_post_meta()` function, which would call `is_protected_meta()` to prevent lower-privileged users from setting protected meta keys (those starting with `_`). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary protected post meta keys such as `_wp_page_template`, `_wp_attached_file`, and other sensitive meta keys on duplicated posts via the `customMetaData` JSON array parameter in the `/wp-json/post-duplicator/v1/duplicate-post` REST API endpoint.

Technical Analysis

REMEDIATION: Update to version 3.0.9, or a newer patched version --- IDENTIFIER: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

External References

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