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CVE-2026-14281 critical CVSS 9.8

Privilege Escalation in WordPress (CVE-2026-14281)

Summary

Vulnerability in WordPress (CVE-2026-14281). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Exploitable via POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

The Automation Web Platform – Notifications and OTP for WooCommerce, Advanced Country Code plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.8.6. This is due to missing permission enforcement on the publicly accessible REST route POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/ and the absence of a key allowlist in the finish_registration_logic function, which copies the attacker-controlled wawp_custom_fields parameter directly into update_user_meta() — allowing sensitive meta keys such as wp_capabilities and wp_user_level to be set by the caller. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to register a new account with the administrator role and gain full administrative access to the site. When OTP verification is enabled at signup, the OTP session token (otp_transient) is returned in plaintext in the HTTP response body, and the handle_magic_link_request() handler marks that token as verified on any unauthenticated GET request containing it without ever checking the OTP code value — making the OTP step trivially bypassable with no inbox or SMS access required.

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-14281 has been found in WordPress.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/ over the network to misuse the product.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 9.8/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "WordPress CVE-2026-14281" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2026-14281 (WordPress) — CWE-269 / CVSS v3 9.8
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Attack surface: POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/ / finish_registration_logic / wawp_custom_fields / wp_capabilities
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (CWE-269) exists in WordPress. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/ without authentication.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of WordPress. Attack surface: POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/ / finish_registration_logic / wawp_custom_fields / wp_capabilities.

🔥 Severity

Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.

🔧 How to fix

Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/ requests with malformed payloads or SQL meta-characters. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

  1. 1
    Identify exposure identify 
    Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.

    資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで WordPress を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。

  2. 2
    Hunt for indicators of compromise detect 
    grep 'POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/' /var/log/nginx/access.log | grep -E '(unusual_payload|sqli_pattern)'

    アクセスログで POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/ への異常なリクエスト (不正な認証ヘッダ・SQLメタ文字)を過去 30〜90日分捜索。WAF/SIEM があれば該当パスのアラート発火履歴を確認。

  3. 3
    Post-deployment verification verify 
    Replay attack against POST /wp-json/wawp/v1/signup/ on staging to confirm patch closes the vector

    パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番では Step 2 と同じログクエリでアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

References

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