dbcve.org
Incorrect AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-863

CVE-2025-14866

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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 Melapress Role Editor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.1.1. This is due to a misconfigured capability check on the 'save_secondary_roles_field' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to assign themselves additional roles including Administrator.

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 Melapress Role Editor plugin for WordPress versions up to 1.1.1 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability due to a misconfigured capability check on the 'save_secondary_roles_field' function. This allows authenticated users with Subscriber-level permissions to assign themselves elevated roles including Administrator.

MitigationUpdate Melapress Role Editor to version 1.1.2 or later. Until then, restrict user registration or audit existing subscriber accounts for unauthorized role changes.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Verify Melapress Role Editor is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate Melapress Role Editor. Note the version number displayed below the plugin name.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active on the WordPress site.
  2. Compare installed version to affected range
    Check the installed version number against the affected range (any version up to and including 1.1.1). Versions 1.1.2 and later are not affected.
    Affected if The installed version is 1.1.1 or lower.
  3. Identify users with Subscriber role
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and review the role column. Look for any accounts assigned the Subscriber role.
    Affected if There are users with Subscriber-level access on the site.
  4. Check for privilege escalation capability in save_secondary_roles_field
    Access the WordPress site files via FTP or file manager. Navigate to /wp-content/plugins/melapress-role-editor/ and locate the file containing the save_secondary_roles_field function. Inspect the capability check within this function to verify if it properly validates elevated permissions.
    Affected if The function uses a weak or missing capability check that allows Subscriber-level users to modify roles.
  5. Review recent role assignment changes
    Check WordPress user logs or audit logs for any unexpected role changes, particularly assignments of Administrator or other high-privilege roles performed by low-level users.
    Affected if There are recent role changes to elevated permissions made by users who should not have that capability.

The environment is affected if Melapress Role Editor version 1.1.1 or lower is installed and active, allowing authenticated users with Subscriber-level permissions to potentially escalate their privileges through the misconfigured save_secondary_roles_field function.

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 Melapress Role Editor to version 1.1.2 or later. Until then, restrict user registration or audit existing subscriber accounts for unauthorized role changes.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version of Melapress Role Editor (version higher than 1.1.1)

  1. 1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate the Melapress Role Editor plugin
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
  5. 5. After updating, verify the plugin is running on a version higher than 1.1.1
  6. 6. Review user roles to ensure no unauthorized privilege escalation has occurred

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-14866 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data