CVE WatchOct 16, 2026

CVE-2026-104755

The WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to,

CVSS

4.8

Medium

EPSS

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KEV

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Exploit Today

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0-100

Published: Oct 16, 2026 · Last modified: Oct 16, 2026 · CWE-269

EPSS · 30d

Not enough EPSS history yet.

Technical description

The WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 7.25.00 The vulnerability exists because the `start_comms` dispatcher (`wps_ic_comms::start_comms`), hooked on every front-end request, gates access only by comparing the caller-supplied `apikey` parameter against the stored plugin API key with no WordPress capability check and no nonce verification, then passes the unvalidated `group`, `setting`, and `value` parameters directly to `change_setting()`, which writes them into the `WPS_IC_SETTINGS` option without an allow-list. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to write arbitrary permission keys into the plugin's settings, causing `wps_ic_users::checkAndAddCaps()` to grant any WordPress role — including Subscriber — the `manage_wpc_settings` capability and thereby achieve plugin-administrator-equivalent control over the plugin's optimization, CDN, and critical-CSS surfaces. The API key required to pass the authorization check can itself be obtained without authentication via the `wpc_send_critical_remote` nopriv AJAX action: when the external critical-CSS service returns an `apiResults` field, `initCritical()` echoes the stored plugin API key back to the caller in a `wp_send_json_success` response, completing the exploit chain entirely without a WordPress login.

Official references

Related CVEs

CVECVSSEPSSKEVRExploitTitleMod.

CVE-2026-890799.8 CRI

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———The User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.3 via the `role` parameter handled by the `wppb_add_meta_to_user_on_activation()` function. The vulnerability exists because the activation handler passes the attacker-supplied role value directly to `WP_User::set_role()` with no allow-list validation, and the 4.0.3 reserved-name check exempts pre-existing form fields from the block, allowing a legacy field with meta-name `role` to persist and bridge attacker-controlled request input into the serialized signup record stored in `wp_signups`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to gain a fully activated WordPress administrator account by submitting `role=administrator` through the public `[wppb-register]` shortcode form and subsequently clicking the confirmation activation link. Exploitation requires the site to have a legacy form field with meta-name `role` carried over from before the 4.0.3 upgrade, email confirmation enabled, and open user registration — all stable site-state conditions once established.3h CVE-2026-1111147.5 HIG

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———The Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.7.11 The vulnerability exists because the `/?reset-view` handler in `role_switcher_to_view_admin_as()` performs no nonce or capability check when the supplied username matches the authenticated caller, and because the plugin's only cleanup mechanism — the `profile_update` hook — does not fire when WordPress performs a bulk role change via `wp-admin/users.php?action=promote`, which calls `WP_User::set_role()` directly and leaves a stale `administrator` value in the `nxtext_view_admin_original_role` user meta. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or above to restore the stale stored Administrator role to their own account, effectively escalating their privileges to Administrator. Exploitation requires that the attacker's account previously held the Administrator role and used the View Admin Role Switcher feature before being demoted specifically through the bulk role-change control rather than the Edit User screen, as only the bulk path bypasses the `profile_update` hook that would otherwise have cleared the stored original role.4h CVE-2026-1095159.8 CRI

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———The InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 0.1.4.1 This is due to the plugin registering its admin page via `add_management_page()` using a role name returned by `InstaWP_Setting::get_allowed_role()` as the required capability — which WordPress resolves as a real capability match for any user holding that role — combined with `generate_section_field()` rendering the master API key from the `instawp_api_options` option directly as the `value` attribute of a plain-text HTML input with no additional `manage_options` or equivalent capability check. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to read the plaintext master API key, use its SHA-256-derived secret as a bearer token accepted by the plugin's REST API `validate_api_request()`, and call `POST /wp-json/instawp-connect/v2/auto-login` to mint a 30-second single-use login URL that sets an administrator authentication cookie — fully escalating their privileges. Exploitation requires the site to be actively connected to InstaWP and an administrator to have added the attacker's role to the plugin's Sync Tab Access list (`instawp_sync_tab_roles`); notably, the settings tab suppression logic only hides the tab when `administrator` is absent from the list entirely, meaning a mixed configuration retaining administrator alongside a lower role still serves the full settings page — including the API key — to the lower-privileged user.4h