Improper Privilege Management (CVE-2026-109515)
Published Last modified Sources: CVE.org
- Actively exploited
- Source: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab) How we classify
What is affected, what to do
The MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.78.6 This is due to the `subscribe_to_email_list` endpoint accepting an attacker-supplied `optin_data[form_custom_field_mappings]` parameter without any allow-list validation on destination keys, allowing the attacker-controlled mapping to override the administrator's saved mapping and pass arbitrary `wp_users` column names — including `ID` and `user_pass` — directly into `wp_insert_user()` via the `subscribe()` function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to force `wp_insert_user()` into UPDATE mode on any existing account by supplying a target user's numeric `ID`, overwrite that account's password with a pre-hashed value of their choosing, and thereby take over any WordPress user account — including administrators — leading to full site compromise.
The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below.
- Affected
- ProfilePress Membership Team MailOptin
lte *..1.2.78.6
- ProfilePress Membership Team MailOptin
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Metrics
9.8
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
9.8
CVSS v3
Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: CVE.org
0.4 %
EPSS score
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 38.1
Show all metrics
- Severity
- Critical
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 90.50 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- actively exploitedSource: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab) How we classify
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 9.8 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 9.8
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 0.4 %
- Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 38.1
- High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
CWE
CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.
Read in glossary- CWE-269
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
The MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.78.6 This is due to the `subscribe_to_email_list` endpoint accepting an attacker-supplied `optin_data[form_custom_field_mappings]` parameter without any allow-list validation on destination keys, allowing the attacker-controlled mapping to override the administrator's saved mapping and pass arbitrary `wp_users` column names — including `ID` and `user_pass` — directly into `wp_insert_user()` via the `subscribe()` function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to force `wp_insert_user()` into UPDATE mode on any existing account by supplying a target user's numeric `ID`, overwrite that account's password with a pre-hashed value of their choosing, and thereby take over any WordPress user account — including administrators — leading to full site compromise. Exploitation requires that a WordPress User Registration opt-in form is published somewhere on the site, though the form's UUID is visible in page source and no authentication, nonce, or capability check is required to reach the vulnerable endpoint.
Source: cvelistv5, NVD (NIST)
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| properfraction | MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. |
|
|
Vendors and products
Weakness classes (CWE)
CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
Class
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
Entry at MITRE CWE-269
References & sources
- wordfence.comthreat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/96111116-6b6f-42fc-98d8-6f5c27d…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.orgbrowser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/connections/WordPressUserRe…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.orgbrowser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/core/src/Connections/Abstra…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.orgbrowser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/core/src/AjaxHandler.php
- plugins.trac.wordpress.orgchangeset?reponame=&new=3744644@mailoptin/trunk&old=3738326@mai…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.orgchangeset/3744644/mailoptin/trunk/src/connections/WordPressUser…
Changes to this CVE
Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).
Record modifiedCISA ADP
CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: yes
Show the original change
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After SSVC assessment added —{"id":"CVE-2026-109515","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"yes"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-10-16T14:56:30.538755Z"}Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
ReceivedWordfence
CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness type: CWE-269
Description added or changed
New references:- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/connections/WordPressUserRegistrationConnect/Subscription.php#L68
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/core/src/AjaxHandler.php#L699
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/core/src/Connections/AbstractConnect.php#L84
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3744644/mailoptin/trunk/src/connections/WordPressUserRegistrationConnect/Subscription.php
and 2 more references
Show 10 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Description added —The MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.78.6 This is due to the `subscribe_to_email_list` endpoint accepting an attacker-supplied `optin_data[form_custom_field_mappings]` parameter without any allow-list validation on destination keys, allowing the attacker-controlled mapping to override the administrator's saved mapping and pass arbitrary `wp_users` column names — including `ID` and `user_pass` — directly into `wp_insert_user()` via the `subscribe()` function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to force `wp_insert_user()` into UPDATE mode on any existing account by supplying a target user's numeric `ID`, overwrite that account's password with a pre-hashed value of their choosing, and thereby take over any WordPress user account — including administrators — leading to full site compromise. Exploitation requires that a WordPress User Registration opt-in form is published somewhere on the site, though the form's UUID is visible in page source and no authentication, nonce, or capability check is required to reach the vulnerable endpoint.CVSS added —AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HWeakness type (CWE) added —CWE-269Affected versions (publisher) added —New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/109xxx/CVE-2026-109515.json">CVE-2026-109515</a>Reference added —https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/connections/WordPressUserRegistrationConnect/Subscription.php#L68Reference added —https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/core/src/AjaxHandler.php#L699Reference added —https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/mailoptin/tags/1.2.78.5/src/core/src/Connections/AbstractConnect.php#L84Reference added —https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3744644/mailoptin/trunk/src/connections/WordPressUserRegistrationConnect/Subscription.phpReference added —https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&new=3744644%40mailoptin%2Ftrunk&old=3738326%40mailoptin%2Ftrunk#file4Reference added —https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/96111116-6b6f-42fc-98d8-6f5c27dc3c1c?source=cveSource identifier: security@wordfence.com
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