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Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2025-14533

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 0.9.2.1. This is due to the 'insert_user' function not restricting the roles with which a user can register. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to supply the 'administrator' role during registration and gain administrator access to the site. Note: The vulnerability can only be exploited if 'role' is mapped to the custom field.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin for WordPress versions up to 0.9.2.1 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in its user registration function. The 'insert_user' function fails to validate or restrict the role parameter, allowing unauthenticated attackers to register with administrator privileges by supplying 'administrator' as the role value. Exploitation requires the 'role' field to be mapped to a custom field.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 0.9.2.2 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, disable user registration functionality or remove role mapping from custom field configurations until the update can be applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check plugin version
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins. Locate 'Advanced Custom Fields: Extended' (or ACF Extended) and verify the version number in the plugin description. Alternatively, check the plugin file header in /wp-content/plugins/acf-extended/ or similar plugin directory.
    Affected if Version is 0.9.2.1 or lower
  2. Confirm user registration is enabled
    Check the plugin settings for user registration functionality. This may be in the plugin's settings page, under Custom Fields > Settings > User Registration, or in WP admin under Users > Registration. Look for any option that enables or allows public user registration.
    Affected if User registration feature is active or enabled
  3. Verify role field mapping exists
    Review all Custom Field Groups in WordPress admin (Custom Fields > Field Groups). For each group with user form settings enabled, inspect the field mappings. Specifically look for any field where the setting maps to 'role' or assigns user roles, such as a select/dropdown field with 'role' as the field name or a mapping configuration assigning user capabilities.
    Affected if A custom field has role mapping enabled or a 'role' field is connected to user registration forms
  4. Confirm all conditions for exploitation
    Review the combination of findings: (1) Plugin version is 0.9.2.1 or lower, (2) user registration is enabled in the plugin, (3) a role-related field exists in a custom field group and is mapped to user registration forms. All three must be true for the vulnerability to be exploitable.
    Affected if Plugin version is vulnerable AND user registration is enabled AND role field mapping to custom fields is configured

The environment is affected if ACF Extended version 0.9.2.1 or lower is installed with user registration enabled and a role field mapped in custom field configurations.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the plugin to version 0.9.2.2 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, disable user registration functionality or remove role mapping from custom field configurations until the update can be applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

0.9.2.2 or later

  1. 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard with administrator privileges.
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
  3. 3. Locate 'Advanced Custom Fields: Extended' in the plugin list.
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version.
  5. 5. After updating, verify the plugin is running version 0.9.2.2 or higher.
  6. 6. Review custom field configurations to ensure 'role' field mappings are intentional and restricted to trusted users only.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-14533 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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