CVE-2026-119980: UsersWP privilege escalation vulnerability
medium 6.5 published 2026-10-31 · updated 2026-11-02
- Affected versions
- 1.2.78 and older
- Fixed in
- 1.2.79 *
- Latest version
- 1.2.81
- Severity
- Medium · CVSS 6.5
- Active installs
- 20,000+
- Type
- Privilege escalation
* The source does not name a fixed version; this is the first wordpress.org release after the last affected version.
What an attacker needs
- Access: None. No account or login is needed.
CVSS vector (score by Wordfence): CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
What to do now
- Update UsersWP to 1.2.79 or newer (the latest is 1.2.81): Dashboard → Updates, or Plugins → “update now”.
- If you cannot update right away, deactivate it until you can.
- Turn on auto-updates for it: Plugins → “Enable auto-updates” on its row.
- Not sure which version you run? Check your version against every known UsersWP issue.
With WP-CLI:
wp plugin get userswp --field=version. - If you ran an affected version and something looks off (new admin users, spam pages, redirects), run the free scan below.
The advisory
The UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized account access via Use of Predictable Password in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.78 The vulnerability exists because `get_dummy_user_passowrd()` derives the shared password for all 25 built-in dummy user accounts as the first 15 characters of `substr(hash('SHA256', AUTH_KEY . site_url()), 0, 25)`, while the full 25-character value of that same hash is simultaneously embedded in the hidden `uwp_register_hash` field rendered on every registration form response — reachable without authentication via both the public `/register/` page and the `wp_ajax_nopriv_uwp_ajax_register_form` AJAX handler, even when user registration is disabled. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to recover the dummy user password directly from a single HTTP request and use it to authenticate as any of the 25 built-in dummy accounts (such as antawn, chynna, or kiki) through `wp-login.php`, potentially achieving privilege escalation if any dummy account holds an elevated role. Exploitation requires that an administrator has previously created dummy users via the plugin's Tools page.
References
- NVD CVE-2026-119980 nvd.nist.gov
- Wordfence advisory www.wordfence.com
- Code change (fix) plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- github.com github.com
- Plugin source plugins.trac.wordpress.org
Related
Ran an affected version? Check your site for signs of a hack
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Where this data comes from
- CVE record, score and references: NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), checked 2026-11-04. This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Versions and install counts: wordpress.org/plugins/userswp (Plugins API), fetched 2026-11-04.
- The summary, “what an attacker needs” and “what to do” sections are our plain-English reading of the record and the plugin's release history; the quoted description is the record's own text. Spot an error? Email Daniel.