CVE-2026-14941 in Customer Reviews for WooCommerce Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 08/10/2026
The Customer Reviews for WooCommerce WordPress plugin before 5.116.0 does not perform nonce or capability checks on several settings-related AJAX actions, allowing users with minimal permissions such as Subscribers to invoke administrative settings handlers, update Customer Reviews for WooCommerce WordPress plugin before 5.116.0 options, and disclose store configuration.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/10/2026
The vulnerability in the Customer Reviews for WooCommerce WordPress plugin affects versions prior to 5.116.0 and represents a critical authorization flaw that undermines the plugin's security model. This issue stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the plugin's AJAX handling components, specifically targeting settings-related administrative functions. The flaw allows unauthenticated or minimally privileged users to execute administrative operations through legitimate plugin interfaces, creating a significant vector for privilege escalation attacks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs through the absence of proper nonce verification and capability checks in multiple AJAX endpoints exposed by the plugin. When users with minimal permissions such as subscribers access these endpoints, they can manipulate various administrative settings without proper authorization. This lack of authentication enforcement violates fundamental security principles and creates a direct pathway for unauthorized modifications to core plugin configurations, potentially exposing sensitive store data and operational parameters.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it enables attackers to manipulate critical customer review settings and potentially access confidential store configuration details. Attackers could modify review display preferences, alter rating thresholds, or disable important review functionalities while simultaneously gathering information about the store's operational environment. This exposure creates opportunities for data exfiltration and system compromise that could affect both the plugin's functionality and broader store operations.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization) and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege in software design. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this issue maps to T1078 (Valid Accounts) and T1548.002 (Account Manipulation) as attackers can leverage existing low-privilege accounts to perform administrative actions. The threat landscape is particularly concerning because the vulnerability affects a widely deployed plugin, making it an attractive target for automated exploitation campaigns that could rapidly compromise numerous e-commerce sites.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of the Customer Reviews for WooCommerce plugin to version 5.116.0 or later, which contains proper authorization controls. Administrators should also implement additional monitoring of AJAX endpoints for unusual access patterns and ensure comprehensive role-based access control policies are enforced throughout the WordPress environment. Network-level restrictions and security headers can provide additional defense-in-depth measures while regular security audits of plugin installations help identify similar authorization flaws in other components.
The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing robust access controls even within seemingly benign administrative interfaces, as these endpoints often serve as attack vectors for more sophisticated exploitation techniques. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of all plugin and theme components to identify similar authorization gaps that could enable similar privilege escalation scenarios. Regular security updates and proactive monitoring of plugin repositories remain essential practices for maintaining e-commerce platform integrity against evolving threats targeting WordPress ecosystems.