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Authorization Bypass (IDOR)Weakness · CWE-639

CVE-2026-5617

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-15
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 Login as User plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.3. This is due to the handle_return_to_admin() function trusting a client-controlled cookie (oclaup_original_admin) to determine which user to authenticate as, without any server-side verification that the cookie value was legitimately set during an admin-initiated user switch. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to escalate their privileges to administrator by setting the oclaup_original_admin cookie to an administrator's user ID and triggering the "Return to Admin" functionality.

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 Login as User WordPress plugin has a privilege escalation vulnerability in the handle_return_to_admin() function. The function trusts the oclaup_original_admin cookie value (client-controlled) to determine which user to authenticate as, without server-side validation that the cookie was legitimately set by an admin. This allows any authenticated user with Subscriber-level access to impersonate administrators by setting this cookie to an admin user ID.

MitigationUpgrade to version 1.0.4 or later which implements server-side validation of the cookie value. Until patched, disable or remove the plugin.

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 plugin installation and activation
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Login as User' or 'Login as User (oclaup)' plugin. Check if it is installed and active.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In WordPress plugins list, click on the plugin to view details, or check the plugin's main PHP file header for 'Version:' field. Compare against version 1.0.4.
    Affected if Installed version is earlier than 1.0.4
  3. Inspect handle_return_to_admin function
    Access the plugin files via FTP or file manager. Locate the main plugin PHP file (commonly in /wp-content/plugins/login-as-user/ or similar). Search for the handle_return_to_admin function and verify it reads the oclaup_original_admin cookie without server-side validation.
    Affected if The function directly uses $_COOKIE['oclaup_original_admin'] without validating it against server-side data
  4. Verify user role configuration
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and check if any subscribers exist. The vulnerability requires at least Subscriber-level access to exploit.
    Affected if Subscriber-level or higher users exist on the site

Your environment is affected if the Login as User plugin is active with a version before 1.0.4 and subscriber-level users exist who could set the oclaup_original_admin cookie to impersonate administrators.

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

Upgrade to version 1.0.4 or later which implements server-side validation of the cookie value. Until patched, disable or remove the plugin.

Recommended fix High confidence

Latest version of Login as User plugin (any version above 1.0.3)

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard with administrator privileges
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the 'Login as User' plugin in the plugin list
  4. Check the current version number of the plugin (should be 1.0.3 or below)
  5. Update the plugin to the latest available version from the WordPress plugin repository
  6. Verify the update completed successfully
  7. Confirm the new version is installed and active

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,820
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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-2026-5617 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
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