Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in User Registration & Membership Plugin for WordPress
CVE-2026-79996

7.2HIGH

Key Information:

Vendor

WordPress
Status
User Registration & Membership
Vendor
CVE Published:
28 August 2026

Badges

👾 Exploit Exists🟡 Public PoC

What is CVE-2026-79996?

The User Registration & Membership plugin for WordPress, prior to version 5.2.6, lacks essential capability checks during the save process for login settings. This oversight allows authenticated users, who possess specific management rights but not full administrator access, to manipulate site options, potentially enabling them to escalate their privileges to that of an administrator.

Affected Version(s)

User Registration & Membership 0 < 5.2.6

Exploit Proof of Concept (PoC)

PoC code is written by security researchers to demonstrate the vulnerability can be exploited. PoC code is also a key component for weaponization which could lead to ransomware.

CVE-2026-79996 - Proof of Concept

References

https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/609bbb7c-c19a-4c72-8cef-...
exploitvdb-entrytechnical-description

CVSS V3.1

Score:
7.2
Severity:
HIGH
Confidentiality:
High
Integrity:
High
Availability:
High
Attack Vector:
Network
Attack Complexity:
Low
Privileges Required:
High
User Interaction:
None
Scope:
Unchanged

Timeline

  • 🟡

    Public PoC available

  • 👾

    Exploit known to exist

  • Vulnerability published

  • Vulnerability Reserved

Credit

Artus KG
WPScan
.