brainstormforce SureDash Plugin up to 1.13.0 on WordPress REST save-settings save_settings default_role privileges management

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in brainstormforce SureDash Plugin up to 1.13.0 and classified as critical. This affects the function save_settings of the file /suredash/v1/save-settings of the component REST Handler. The manipulation of the argument default_role leads to privileges management. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-123769. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in brainstormforce SureDash Plugin up to 1.13.0. This issue affects the function save_settings of the file /suredash/v1/save-settings of the component REST Handler. The manipulation of the argument default_role with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The SureDash – Community, Courses & Member Dashboard plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.13.0 This is due to the `save_settings()` REST handler at `/suredash/v1/save-settings` being gated only by `admin_permission_callback()`, which authorizes any holder of the custom `manage_portal_dashboard` capability (Portal Manager role) without requiring `promote_users`, `edit_users`, or `manage_options`, combined with `sanitize_settings_data()` iterating all attacker-supplied keys with no allow-list, allowing arbitrary keys such as `default_role` to pass through `sanitize_text_field()` unchanged and be persisted into the `portal_settings` option via `update_option()` with no role-validity check. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Portal Manager-level access and above to poison the `default_role` setting to `administrator`, after which any subsequent new-user registration through the publicly accessible block-register endpoint reads the corrupted setting and passes it directly to `wp_insert_user()`, producing a full WordPress Administrator account under the attacker's control. The exploit requires two steps: a POST to the authenticated `save-settings` endpoint to overwrite `default_role`, followed by triggering a new registration through the unauthenticated block-register endpoint to receive the escalated account. Successful exploitation causes the attacker's own account to receive the complete administrator role.

It is possible to read the advisory at wordfence.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-123769 since 11/06/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 11/13/2026). The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1068 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Type

• WordPress Plugin

Vendor

• brainstormforce

Name

• SureDash Plugin

Version

• 1.0
• 1.1
• 1.2
• 1.3
• 1.4
• 1.5
• 1.6
• 1.7
• 1.8
• 1.9
• 1.10
• 1.11
• 1.12
• 1.13.0

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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