CVE-2026-48969
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 · uneditedSubscriber Broken Access Control in Really Simple SSL <= 9.5.9 versions.
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 · moderate confidenceThis is a broken access control vulnerability in the Really Simple SSL WordPress plugin (versions <= 9.5.9). The flaw allows users with the Subscriber role—which normally has the lowest privilege level in WordPress—to access functionality or data that should be restricted to higher-privileged users. The CVSS 6.5 indicates network-exploitable with low attack complexity.
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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate the installed Really Simple SSL plugin versionIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and find 'Really Simple SSL' in the list. The version number is displayed below the plugin name. Alternatively, check the plugin's main PHP file header in wp-content/plugins/really-simple-ssl/ for the 'Version' comment.Affected if The version listed is 9.5.9 or lower
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Confirm the plugin is activeIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Check that Really Simple SSL shows as 'Active' under the plugin status.Affected if The plugin is installed at a vulnerable version AND is currently active
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Verify WordPress user roles existIn WordPress admin, go to Users > Roles (or use a role management plugin). Confirm that the Subscriber role exists in the installation.Affected if The Subscriber role is present in the WordPress installation (this is the default state)
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Check for users with Subscriber roleIn WordPress admin, go to Users and filter or check user accounts. Look for users assigned the 'Subscriber' role. You can also query the wp_usermeta table directly: SELECT user_id, meta_value FROM wp_usermeta WHERE meta_key = 'wp_capabilities' AND meta_value LIKE '%subscriber%';Affected if There is at least one user account assigned the Subscriber role
You are affected if Really Simple SSL version 9.5.9 or lower is active on your WordPress site and you have any users with the Subscriber role present in your installation.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpdate Really Simple SSL to a version newer than 9.5.9 to remediate this access control issue.
Really Simple SSL 9.6.0 or latest stable release
- Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
- Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- Locate Really Simple SSL in the plugin list
- Check the current version number to confirm it is 9.5.9 or lower
- Click 'Update now' if an update is available, or manually download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/ and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
- After updating, verify the plugin is running version 9.6.0 or higher
- Test that subscribers cannot access administrative functionality
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-48969 — 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-2026-48969 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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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.
- 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