CVE-2026-73390 in Total Donations Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 08/19/2026
Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation in Total Donations <= 2.0.5 versions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/19/2026
The vulnerability identified as an unauthenticated privilege escalation within the Total Donations plugin for WordPress, affecting versions up to and including 2.0.5, represents a critical security flaw that allows attackers to gain unauthorized administrative access without valid credentials. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it bypasses standard authentication mechanisms entirely, enabling any remote actor with network connectivity to the target application to escalate their privileges from an unauthenticated state directly to that of an administrator. The root cause typically lies in insufficient validation or authorization checks within specific API endpoints or administrative functions exposed by the plugin. In many such cases, developers may inadvertently expose internal processing logic through REST API routes or AJAX handlers without properly verifying if the requesting user possesses the necessary capabilities before executing sensitive operations. This oversight allows malicious actors to manipulate input parameters to trigger actions that modify site settings, create new administrator accounts, or alter donation configurations, effectively taking full control of the WordPress installation.
From a technical perspective, this flaw aligns with CWE-269, which classifies Improper Privilege Assignment, and more specifically CWE-434 regarding the Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type if file manipulation is involved, though in pure privilege escalation contexts, it often relates to CWE-862: Missing Authorization. The attack vector leverages the fact that WordPress plugins frequently register custom endpoints for handling donation data, such as processing payments or updating donor information. If these endpoints do not strictly enforce capability checks using functions like current_user_can with appropriate caps, an attacker can craft HTTP requests to execute administrative tasks. For instance, by sending a POST request to a specific endpoint with manipulated parameters, the attacker might create a new user account and assign it the administrator role, or change existing configuration values that control how donations are processed. This bypasses the need for brute-forcing passwords or exploiting session hijacking techniques, making the attack straightforward and highly reliable against unpatched systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, as gaining administrative access to a WordPress site provides complete control over all aspects of the web application. An attacker can install malicious plugins, inject backdoors into theme files, deface the website, or exfiltrate sensitive data stored in the database, including donor information and financial records associated with the donation functionality. Furthermore, since Total Donations handles financial transactions, compromising this plugin could lead to direct monetary loss if payment gateways are manipulated or if fraudulent donations are processed. Beyond immediate site compromise, attackers often use such footholds as a pivot point for broader network attacks, potentially targeting other services hosted on the same server or leveraging compromised credentials stored in configuration files to access external databases and APIs. This aligns with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078: Valid Accounts, where adversaries establish persistence by creating their own administrative accounts that persist even if original passwords are changed later.
Mitigation strategies must focus on immediate remediation through software updates and rigorous security hardening practices. The primary defense is to update the Total Donations plugin to version 2.0.6 or any subsequent release that explicitly addresses this privilege escalation flaw by implementing proper authorization checks on all administrative endpoints. Administrators should verify the changelog of updated versions to confirm that specific fixes for unauthenticated access have been applied. In environments where immediate patching is not feasible due to compatibility concerns, temporary mitigations include restricting access to wp-admin and plugin-specific API endpoints via Web Application Firewall rules or IP whitelisting if applicable. Additionally, implementing strong password policies and multi-factor authentication can reduce the risk of secondary attacks that might exploit any residual weaknesses in user management features. Regular security audits and code reviews focusing on authorization logic are essential to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced during future development cycles, ensuring adherence to secure coding standards such as those outlined by OWASP for web application security testing.