SimpleForm <= 3.10.0 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation to wp_capabilities Mass Assignment via simpleform_wp_register
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.10.1
- Affected Version
<= 3.10.0- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
- CVE
CVE-2026-104748
At a glance
CVE-2026-104748 is a critical-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the SimpleForm WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.10.0. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.10.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2026, reported by Sebastian Albrecht (mySebbe).
Vulnerability Overview
The SimpleForm – Form Maker to Chat Apps with Quiz, Poll and Multi Lead Notifications plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 3.10.0 This is due to the `wp_ajax_nopriv_simpleform_wp_register` AJAX action lacking any capability check for role assignment and the `save_custom_fields_to_user_meta()` function using an exclusion list that omits `wp_capabilities`, combined with `get_form_settings()` returning a hard-coded defaults array that unconditionally enables meta writing regardless of the supplied `form_id`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to create a new Administrator-level WordPress account by supplying `wp_capabilities[administrator]=1` alongside standard registration fields. The nonce required by the endpoint is publicly emitted into the `front_end_data` JavaScript object on every front-end page via `wp_enqueue_scripts`, making it trivially obtainable by any unauthenticated visitor before submitting the malicious request.
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 privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
SimpleForm <= 3.10.0 carries this weakness at save_custom_fields_to_user_meta(), and reaching it takes no account at all. 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 SimpleForm the fix is 3.10.1: builds <= 3.10.0 are affected, anything from 3.10.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.10.1, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: SimpleForm 3.10.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in SimpleForm – Form Maker to Chat Apps with Quiz, Poll and Multi Lead Notifications
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