User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor <= 4.0.3 - Authenticated (Author+) Limited Privilege Escalation via Gutenberg Block 'Assigned Role' Attribute

2026-10-20 13:40
pb>sec

Strategic Overview

At a glance

This record tracks a high-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the User Profile Builder WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.0.3. It carries a CVSS score of 7.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Author level or above. The issue is fixed in version 4.0.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2026, reported by pb>sec.

Vulnerability Overview

The User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Limited Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.3. This is due to the Gutenberg Register block passing the attacker-controlled Assigned Role attribute directly into the `[wppb-register]` shortcode without server-side authorization. The role guard in the form builder only downgrades roles that carry the manage_options or remove_users capability, leaving the Editor role and other privileged non-Administrator roles completely unrestricted. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Author-level access and above to create new WordPress accounts bearing the Editor role (or any other role that lacks the two guarded capabilities).

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 integrity.

CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management

Reaching this weakness in User Profile Builder <= 4.0.3 takes an account at Author 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 User Profile Builder the fix is 4.0.4: builds <= 4.0.3 are affected, anything from 4.0.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.0.4, 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: User Profile Builder 4.0.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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