Wholesale for WooCommerce <= 2.0.5 - Authenticated (Author+) Privilege Escalation via 'user_role_set' Parameter
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.0.6
- Affected Plugin
- Wholesale for WooCommerce
- Affected Version
<= 2.0.5- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
- CVE
CVE-2026-12144
At a glance
CVE-2026-12144 is a high-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the Wholesale for WooCommerce WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.0.5. 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 Author level or above. The issue is fixed in version 2.0.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2026, reported by Chloe Chamberland.
Vulnerability Overview
The Wholesale for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.0.5. This is due to the `save_requests_meta()` function applying only `sanitize_text_field()` to the `user_role_set` POST parameter before passing it directly to `WP_User::add_role()`, with no allowlist validation against permitted wholesale roles and no capability check such as `current_user_can('promote_users')` or `current_user_can('manage_options')`. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with author-level access and above to escalate their privileges to administrator by supplying `administrator` as the `user_role_set` value in a crafted request. The function is gated only by a nonce (`request_user_role_nonce`) that is rendered in the meta box on the `wwp_requests` post edit screen; because the post type is registered with `capability_type => 'post'`, any author-level user who has authored a `wwp_requests` post — such as one created via the wholesale registration form — can access this nonce and submit the role-assignment 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 interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
Wholesale for WooCommerce <= 2.0.5 carries this weakness at promote_users, and reaching it 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 Wholesale for WooCommerce the fix is 2.0.6: builds <= 2.0.5 are affected, anything from 2.0.6 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.0.6, 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: Wholesale for WooCommerce 2.0.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Wholesale for WooCommerce
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