CVE-2026-74925 in MultiVendorX Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 09/11/2026
The MultiVendorX WordPress plugin before 5.0.16 does not restrict who can update its role and capability settings, allowing users holding its vendor role to grant that role administrator-level capabilities and take over the site.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/11/2026
The vulnerability identified in versions of the MultiVendorX WordPress plugin prior to release 5.0.16 represents a critical failure in access control mechanisms, specifically falling under the category of Improper Privilege Management. This flaw allows users assigned with the vendor role within the e-commerce ecosystem managed by the plugin to escalate their privileges significantly beyond intended boundaries. In standard WordPress architectures and multi-vendor marketplace setups, roles are strictly defined to limit user actions based on necessity. The vendor role is typically designed for managing product listings, orders, and store-specific settings, but it should not possess administrative capabilities that affect the core site configuration or other users' accounts. However, due to insufficient validation checks within the plugin's codebase, these restrictions were bypassed, enabling a fundamental breach of security principles regarding least privilege.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability stems from an insecure direct object reference combined with missing authorization checks on administrative endpoints related to role and capability configuration. When a user interacts with specific settings pages or API calls within the MultiVendorX plugin, the system fails to verify whether the requesting user has sufficient authority to modify global permission structures. Consequently, a malicious actor operating as a vendor can manipulate these parameters to assign themselves additional capabilities that are reserved for administrators. This effectively grants them full control over the WordPress installation, including the ability to install plugins, modify themes, access sensitive database information, and execute arbitrary code through other vectors such as plugin uploads or theme editors.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, potentially leading to complete site compromise. An attacker who exploits this flaw can take over the entire website, not just their own vendor store section. This allows for data exfiltration of customer personal information, payment details, and order history stored in the WordPress database. Furthermore, the compromised administrator account can be used to inject malicious scripts into public-facing pages, leading to cross-site scripting attacks against visitors or defacement of the site's appearance. In a business context, this results in significant financial loss due to fraud, reputational damage from data breaches, and potential legal liabilities under regulations such as GDPR or CCPA for failing to protect user data adequately.
This issue aligns with CWE-269, which describes Improper Privilege Management, where the software does not properly restrict administrative functions based on roles. Additionally, it relates to ATT&CK technique T1078, Valid Accounts, specifically the sub-category of Default Accounts or Local Accounts if default vendor credentials are used, allowing attackers to leverage legitimate but overly privileged accounts for persistence and lateral movement within the web application environment. The ability to escalate privileges is a precursor to many other attack chains, making this one of the most dangerous types of vulnerabilities in content management systems like WordPress.
To mitigate this risk, immediate action must be taken by upgrading the MultiVendorX plugin to version 5.0.16 or later, where these access control checks have been properly implemented and validated. Administrators should also audit user roles within their WordPress installation to ensure that no vendor accounts currently hold administrative capabilities due to previous exploitation attempts. Implementing a Web Application Firewall can provide an additional layer of defense by blocking suspicious requests aimed at modifying role settings, although this is not a substitute for patching the underlying code vulnerability. Regular security audits and adherence to secure coding practices that enforce strict authorization checks on all state-changing operations are essential to prevent similar privilege escalation flaws in future updates or other plugins used within the same environment.