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Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2026-8719

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-17
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 AI Engine – The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in version 3.4.9. This is due to missing WordPress capability enforcement in the MCP OAuth bearer-token authorization path, where any valid OAuth token causes MCP access to be granted without verifying administrator privileges. This makes it possible for authenticated (Subscriber+) attackers to invoke admin-level MCP tools and escalate privileges to 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 confidence

The AI Engine plugin for WordPress fails to enforce WordPress capability checks in its MCP (Model Context Protocol) OAuth bearer-token authorization mechanism. When an OAuth token is validated, the plugin grants access to MCP tools without verifying that the token holder has administrator-level privileges. This allows any authenticated user with a valid OAuth token (Subscriber role or higher) to invoke admin-level MCP tools and escalate their privileges to Administrator.

MitigationImplement proper WordPress capability checks (e.g., 'manage_options') before allowing access to administrative MCP tools, and enforce role-based access control on all MCP endpoints to ensure only administrators can invoke privileged operations.

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 AI Engine plugin is installed
    Go to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins, look for 'AI Engine' or search for 'AI Engine' in the plugins list. Alternatively, check the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for an 'ai-engine' folder.
    Affected if The AI Engine plugin is present on the WordPress site
  2. Check the installed AI Engine version
    In WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins, find AI Engine and view the version number displayed. Compare this against any known affected version range for your deployment.
    Affected if The installed version falls within a range known to contain the vulnerability (if version information is available)
  3. Confirm MCP OAuth feature is enabled
    Navigate to the AI Engine plugin settings (usually under Settings > AI Engine or a dedicated AI Engine menu). Look for MCP-related settings, OAuth configuration, or API settings. Check if MCP server or OAuth authentication is toggled on.
    Affected if MCP OAuth or MCP server functionality is enabled in the plugin settings
  4. Inspect MCP endpoint accessibility
    Use a browser developer tool or curl to test access to MCP endpoints (typically under /wp-json/ai-engine/mcp/* or similar paths). Attempt to access these endpoints with a low-privilege user account (Subscriber role) that has obtained an OAuth token.
    Affected if A Subscriber-level user with a valid OAuth token can successfully invoke admin-level MCP tools or access privileged endpoints
  5. Verify capability enforcement on MCP tools
    Review the AI Engine plugin source code, specifically the MCP handler files, to check if 'manage_options' or similar administrator capability checks are performed before executing privileged operations. Look for 'current_user_can' calls in MCP-related PHP files.
    Affected if No capability checks (or insufficient checks) are performed before granting access to administrative MCP operations

A site is affected if the AI Engine plugin is installed with MCP OAuth enabled and low-privilege users can access admin-level MCP tools without proper WordPress capability verification.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper WordPress capability checks (e.g., 'manage_options') before allowing access to administrative MCP tools, and enforce role-based access control on all MCP endpoints to ensure only administrators can invoke privileged operations.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

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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-2026-8719 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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