CVE-2026-4038 in Aimogen Pro Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/20/2026
The Aimogen Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Function Call that can lead to privilege escalation due to a missing capability check on the 'aiomatic_call_ai_function_realtime' function in all versions up to, and including, 2.7.5. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to call arbitrary WordPress functions such as 'update_option' to update the default role for registration to administrator and enable user registration for attackers to gain administrative user access to a vulnerable site.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/23/2026
The Aimogen Pro plugin for WordPress presents a critical security vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-4038, which stems from a fundamental lack of capability validation within the plugin's codebase. This vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 2.7.5, creating a significant attack surface that allows unauthenticated threat actors to exploit the system without requiring any prior authentication credentials. The core flaw resides in the 'aiomatic_call_ai_function_realtime' function, which fails to implement proper access controls, thereby enabling malicious users to bypass standard WordPress security mechanisms that typically restrict access to administrative functions.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability leverages a missing capability check that should normally validate user permissions before executing sensitive operations. When an attacker accesses the vulnerable function, they can invoke arbitrary WordPress functions through the exposed API endpoint, particularly targeting functions like 'update_option' which allows modification of WordPress core settings. This specific function call enables attackers to alter fundamental site configurations, including changing the default role assigned to newly registered users from subscriber to administrator. The implications extend beyond simple privilege escalation, as this modification directly enables attackers to register accounts with administrative privileges, completely compromising the site's security posture.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, representing a direct pathway to full administrative control of affected WordPress installations. Attackers can not only gain administrative access but can also manipulate site content, modify user permissions, install malicious plugins, and potentially use the compromised site as a launchpad for further attacks within a network. The vulnerability's unauthenticated nature means that any user can exploit it without requiring legitimate credentials, making it particularly dangerous for high-traffic or publicly accessible websites. According to CWE classification, this represents a weakness in the capability check mechanism, specifically CWE-284 for improper access control, while the ATT&CK framework would categorize this under privilege escalation techniques with T1078 for valid accounts and T1543 for exploitation of software vulnerabilities.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including updating to the latest plugin version where the capability check has been properly implemented, disabling the vulnerable plugin if immediate updates are not possible, and monitoring for suspicious activity in user registration logs and option updates. Network administrators should also consider implementing additional security controls such as rate limiting on API endpoints and monitoring for unusual function calls that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of proper access control implementation in web applications and demonstrates how a single missing capability check can provide attackers with complete administrative control over WordPress sites, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security reviews of all plugin and theme components that interact with WordPress core functions.