CVE-2026-4261
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 · uneditedThe Expire Users plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.2. This is due to the plugin allowing a user to update the 'on_expire_default_to_role' meta through the 'save_extra_user_profile_fields' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to elevate their privileges to that of an 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 confidenceThe Expire Users WordPress plugin (versions up to 1.2.2) contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in its 'save_extra_user_profile_fields' function. Authenticated users with Subscriber-level access can modify the 'on_expire_default_to_role' user meta field, allowing them to escalate their privileges to administrator by manipulating their default role assignment.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Expire Users plugin is installedCheck the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) for an 'expire-users' folder, or look for the plugin in wp-admin > PluginsAffected if The Expire Users plugin folder exists in the plugins directory
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Determine installed plugin versionOpen the plugin's main PHP file (expire-users.php) or readme.txt and locate the version declaration commentAffected if The version is 1.2.2 or lower (any version up to and including 1.2.2)
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Verify if lower-privileged users can access profile modificationAs a user with Subscriber role, attempt to access and modify profile fields, specifically looking for the 'on_expire_default_to_role' user meta field via the plugin's profile editing functionalityAffected if A Subscriber-level user can access and modify their profile fields through the plugin's save_extra_user_profile_fields function
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Check for presence of vulnerable save_extra_user_profile_fields functionExamine the plugin's main PHP file for the 'save_extra_user_profile_fields' function and verify it processes user input without capability checks for the Subscriber roleAffected if The function exists and processes role-related user meta without verifying the requesting user has administrator privileges
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Inspect the on_expire_default_to_role user meta handlingLook for code that reads/writes the 'on_expire_default_to_role' meta field and check if any role validation is performed before savingAffected if The plugin allows saving 'on_expire_default_to_role' meta without proper authorization checks
A user is affected if the Expire Users plugin versions up to 1.2.2 is installed AND Subscriber-level users can access profile modification features that allow changing the on_expire_default_to_role meta field.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate the Expire Users plugin to the latest version immediately. Until a patched version is available, disable the plugin or implement strict role-based access controls to prevent lower-privileged users from accessing user profile modification functionality.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-4261 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-4261 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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