CVE-2026-6456
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 Account Switcher plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.2. This is due to the `rememberLogin` REST API endpoint using a loose comparison (`!=` instead of `!==`) for secret validation at `app/RestAPI.php:111`, combined with no validation that the secret is non-empty. When a target user has never used the "Remember me" feature, their `asSecret` user meta does not exist, causing `get_user_meta()` to return an empty string. An attacker can send an empty `secret` parameter, which passes the comparison (`'' != ''` is `false`), and the endpoint then calls `wp_set_auth_cookie()` for the target user. Additionally, all REST routes use `permission_callback => '__return_true'` with no capability checks. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to switch to any user account including Administrator, ultimately granting themselves full administrative privileges.
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 Account Switcher plugin for WordPress has a privilege escalation vulnerability in versions up to 1.0.2. The `rememberLogin` REST API endpoint uses loose comparison (`!=` instead of `!==`) for secret validation, allowing an empty secret parameter to pass when the target user's `asSecret` meta doesn't exist. Combined with `permission_callback => '__return_true'` on all REST routes, any authenticated user with Subscriber-level access can call `wp_set_auth_cookie()` for arbitrary users including Administrators.
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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Confirm Account Switcher plugin is installedCheck the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) for a folder named 'account-switcher' or similar, and read the main plugin file to find the version number declared in the plugin header.Affected if The plugin is installed and the version is below 1.0.3, or version cannot be determined (may be unpatched).
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Identify the rememberLogin REST endpointMake a GET request to /wp-json/account-switcher/v1/remember-login or /wp-json/account-switcher/rememberLogin to see if the endpoint exists and is accessible.Affected if The endpoint responds and accepts requests without requiring elevated permissions (subscriber-level access is sufficient).
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Verify no capability check on the endpointInspect the plugin's REST API registration code (look for register_rest_route calls) in the plugin source files and confirm permission_callback is set to '__return_true' or lacks a proper capability check.Affected if The endpoint has no capability check or uses '__return_true', allowing any authenticated user to access it.
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Check for users with empty remember me secretsQuery the WordPress user meta table for '_remember_me' or similar secret keys, or inspect user records to see if any users have never enabled 'Remember me' functionality (resulting in empty secret values).Affected if Any target user (particularly administrators) has an empty or missing remember me secret in the database.
You are affected if the Account Switcher plugin below version 1.0.3 is installed, the rememberLogin REST endpoint is exposed without capability checks, and a target user exists with an empty remember me secret.
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 dataUpgrade to version 1.0.3 or later which fixes the loose comparison and adds proper capability checks. As an immediate workaround, disable the Account Switcher plugin until patched.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-6456 — 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-2026-6456 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
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