CVE-2026-110070 in Modern Events Calendar Lite Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/18/2026
The Modern Events Calendar Lite WordPress plugin before 7.36.4 does not verify that a user is authorized to edit the target post before updating it, allowing authenticated users with the Subscriber role to modify the title, content, and excerpt of arbitrary posts, pages, and custom post types created by other users.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/18/2026
The vulnerability identified in Modern Events Calendar Lite versions prior to 7.36.4 represents a critical failure in server-side access control logic within the WordPress plugin architecture. This flaw specifically manifests as an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR), categorized under CWE-284, where the application fails to properly verify that the authenticated user initiating a request has the necessary permissions to modify the specific resource being targeted. The root cause lies in the absence of robust authorization checks during the update operation for posts and custom post types. Instead of validating whether the current session belongs to the author or an administrator with edit privileges, the plugin relies on insufficient validation mechanisms that allow any authenticated user to bypass these restrictions. This architectural oversight enables a lower-privileged actor to interact directly with internal objects by manipulating request parameters associated with arbitrary post identifiers.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability allows attackers possessing even the most basic WordPress role, such as Subscriber, to perform unauthorized write operations across the entire site content structure. By exploiting this flaw, an attacker can modify the title, content, and excerpt of any post, page, or custom post type created by other users. This capability effectively grants a low-privilege user administrative-level control over content integrity without requiring elevated permissions. The impact extends beyond simple defacement; it facilitates persistent data manipulation that can be used to inject malicious scripts into the site's public-facing pages through cross-site scripting vectors embedded in the title or body text. Furthermore, this unauthorized modification capability undermines the trust model of multi-author WordPress installations, where content ownership and editing rights are strictly segregated based on user roles.
The exploitation of this vulnerability aligns with several tactics defined by the MITRE ATT&CK framework for enterprise environments. Specifically, it falls under the Tactic TA0001 Initial Access if used to gain a foothold via injected scripts, but more accurately maps to TA0005 Defense Evasion and TA0043 Reconnaissance when used to alter logs or hide tracks. The specific technique employed is consistent with CWE-284 Improper Access Control, where the system fails to enforce proper authorization checks for critical functions. In a typical attack scenario, an authenticated Subscriber would craft a HTTP POST request targeting the plugin's update endpoint while supplying the ID of a post owned by an administrator or another user. Since the server does not verify ownership before processing the change, the modification is accepted and saved to the database, resulting in immediate content alteration visible on the live site.
Mitigation for this vulnerability requires both immediate patching and long-term architectural improvements. The primary remediation step is to upgrade the Modern Events Calendar Lite plugin to version 7.36.4 or later, where the developers have implemented proper authorization checks to ensure that only users with appropriate capabilities can edit specific posts. For organizations unable to update immediately due to compatibility constraints, temporary mitigations include restricting access to the WordPress admin area via IP whitelisting if possible, although this is less effective for user-facing content editing vulnerabilities. Additionally, implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule that monitors for anomalous patterns in post-update requests from low-privilege users can provide an additional layer of defense. Long-term security hygiene should involve enforcing strict role-based access control policies and conducting regular code reviews to identify similar authorization flaws in custom plugins or themes before they are deployed into production environments.