User Registration & Membership: Improper Privilege Management
CVE-2026-80071 is a high-severity improper privilege management vulnerability in User Registration & Membership, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.2 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with administrator privileges, without any action from a user. The record lists version 5.2.8 as the first without the flaw, so updating User Registration & Membership to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.46% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update User Registration & Membership to 5.2.8 or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Registration & Membership | User Registration & Membership | before 5.2.8 | 5.2.8 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- HighAdministrator-level access is required first.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CISA (ADP).
Official description
The User Registration & Membership WordPress plugin before 5.2.8 does not properly restrict who may author a membership plan or validate the plan a user attaches to their own account, allowing authenticated users with Author-level access and above to assign themselves an arbitrary role and escalate their privileges to Administrator.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Privilege Management
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
- Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
- Consider following the principle of separation of privilege. Require multiple conditions to be met before permitting access to a system resource.
More Improper Privilege Management vulnerabilities (CWE-269)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in User Registration & Membership
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
Recent Improper Privilege Management vulnerabilities
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
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