CVE-2026-111740 in Post Duplicator Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 11/04/2026
The Post Duplicator WordPress plugin before 3.0.17 does not check whether the requesting user may view each post before returning a list of posts for a post type, allowing users with a role as low as Contributor to read the titles and hierarchy of other users' draft and private posts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/04/2026
The vulnerability identified in Post Duplicator versions prior to 3.0.17 represents a critical failure in access control logic within the WordPress plugin ecosystem. This flaw stems from an insufficient verification mechanism when handling requests for post data associated with specific post types. Specifically, the function responsible for retrieving and returning lists of posts fails to validate whether the authenticated user initiating the request possesses the necessary permissions to view the content being requested. In a properly secured application, any endpoint or API call that returns sensitive information must cross-reference the requester's role against the visibility status of each individual post item before transmission. The absence of this check creates a direct path for unauthorized data exposure, undermining the fundamental security principle of least privilege and proper authorization checks.
From a technical perspective, the core issue lies in the lack of capability verification during the retrieval process. WordPress utilizes a hierarchical role system where capabilities such as read_private_posts or edit_others_posts dictate access levels. A Contributor user typically has limited permissions, restricted to managing their own drafts and published posts they have authored. However, because Post Duplicator does not enforce these checks when fetching post titles and hierarchy structures for duplication purposes, it inadvertently exposes metadata belonging to other users. This includes the titles of draft posts that are intended to be private during development and private posts that should only be visible to administrators or authors with specific clearance. The vulnerability allows an attacker to enumerate sensitive content simply by triggering the plugin's duplicate functionality without needing elevated privileges.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant, particularly in multi-author WordPress environments where multiple users contribute content simultaneously. Attackers with low-privilege accounts can exploit this flaw to gather intelligence about ongoing projects, unpublished articles, or confidential business communications contained within private posts. This information disclosure facilitates further attacks by revealing the structure and topics of future publications, potentially allowing for targeted social engineering or more sophisticated exploits against specific post types. Furthermore, exposure of draft titles may reveal strategic plans or product launches before they are publicly announced, causing reputational damage and competitive disadvantage to the organization hosting the WordPress site.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which describes Improper Access Control, as it involves a failure to enforce proper restrictions on authorized individuals accessing specific resources. Additionally, from an offensive security perspective, this behavior is consistent with ATT&CK technique T1087, Account Discovery, specifically the sub-technique of Enumerate Accounts via local system queries or API calls. The attacker leverages legitimate functionality to map out user activity and content structure without triggering typical intrusion detection alerts associated with high-level privilege escalation attempts.
Mitigation strategies must focus on immediate patching and enhanced input validation. Site administrators should update Post Duplicator to version 3.0.17 or later, where the developers have implemented proper capability checks before returning post data. For sites unable to upgrade immediately due to compatibility constraints, temporary workarounds include restricting access to the plugin's administrative interfaces through IP whitelisting if applicable, or disabling the duplicate functionality for lower-privileged roles via custom code snippets that enforce stricter permission checks at runtime. Long-term remediation involves auditing all third-party plugins for similar authorization flaws and implementing a Web Application Firewall rule set that monitors for anomalous patterns in post retrieval requests from low-privilege accounts to detect potential exploitation attempts in real-time.