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Wpforo ForumWordPress extension · Gvectors

CVE-2026-28556

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.4.16 or later.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
wpForo Forum 2.4.14 contains a missing authorization vulnerability that allows authenticated subscribers to move, merge, or split any forum topic via the topic_move, topic_merge, and topic_split form action handlers. Attackers with a valid form nonce can reorganize arbitrary forum content without moderator permissions, including relocating topics to private forums.

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

wpForo Forum 2.4.14 lacks authorization checks in the topic_move, topic_merge, and topic_split form action handlers, allowing any authenticated subscriber to perform moderator-level operations on arbitrary forum topics including moving content to private forums.

MitigationImplement role-based access control to verify user permissions before executing topic manipulation actions; require moderator or higher privileges for move/merge/split operations.

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

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Wpforo ForumWordPress extension
Affected:>= 2.4.0, < 2.4.16

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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

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. Identify wpForo version
    Access WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, find wpForo Forum, and note the version number displayed. Alternatively, check the version in wp-content/plugins/wpforo/functions.php or readme.txt file.
    Affected if Version is 2.4.0 through 2.4.15 (any version less than 2.4.16)
  2. Verify WordPress user roles exist
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > Users List. Review the roles assigned to each user account, specifically looking for users with 'Subscriber' role.
    Affected if At least one user with Subscriber role exists in the WordPress installation
  3. Check wpForo user group assignments
    In WordPress admin, navigate to wpForo > Members. Review the group assignments for users to see which users are assigned to the Subscriber group or other low-privilege groups.
    Affected if Users are assigned to groups that should not have moderation permissions
  4. Confirm topic manipulation endpoints are accessible
    Check if the WordPress site has wpForo forums configured with topics. Look for form handlers at /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with actions such as wpforo_topic_move, wpforo_topic_merge, or wpforo_topic_split by inspecting page source of forum moderation areas.
    Affected if Topic move/merge/split functionality is enabled and accessible on the forum
  5. Review user permission configuration
    In WordPress admin, go to wpForo > Settings > Permissions tab. Examine the access permissions assigned to each user group for forum topic management operations.
    Affected if Subscriber or equivalent low-privilege groups are granted topic move, merge, or split permissions

You are affected if your wpForo version is 2.4.0 through 2.4.15 and your forum has any subscriber-level users who could access the topic manipulation features without proper authorization checks.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.4.16 or later
Fixed in 2.4.16
Interim mitigation

Implement role-based access control to verify user permissions before executing topic manipulation actions; require moderator or higher privileges for move/merge/split operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

wpForo Forum 2.4.16

  1. 1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
  3. 3. Find wpForo Forum in the plugin list.
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 2.4.16.
  5. 5. Alternatively, download wpForo Forum 2.4.16 from wordpress.org and upload it manually via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
  6. 6. After upgrading, verify the version number in Plugins > Installed Plugins to confirm the update was successful.
  7. 7. Test that the topic move, merge, and split functionality now properly enforces authorization checks for subscriber-level users.

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

Fix this in Wpforo Forum Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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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-2026-28556 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