{"id":"CVE-2026-16149","aliases":["EUVD-2026-64605","GHSA-493r-g3qv-5457"],"status":"published","title":"Security Hardener \u003c= 2.4.4 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via REST API '/wp/v2/users' permission_callback Overwrite","description":"The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.4. The vulnerability exists because the plugin's user-enumeration protection, which is enabled by default, hooks the rest_endpoints filter via secure_user_endpoints() and overwrites every registered handler's permission_callback on both the /wp/v2/users and /wp/v2/users/(?P\u003cid\u003e[\\d]+) routes — including POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE handlers — with a bare closure that returns only is_user_logged_in(), completely stripping WordPress Core's original capability checks such as create_users, promote_user, edit_users, and delete_users that WP_REST_Users_Controller normally enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to create new Administrator accounts by sending POST request to /wp/v2/users with administrator role, or to reset an existing Administrator's password by issuing a PUT/POST request to /wp/v2/users/\u003cid\u003e. Because the block_user_enum option defaults to enabled, no special plugin configuration is required — the overwrite is active on every request as soon as the plugin is installed.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-10","score":0.00591,"percentile":0.48586,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":false},"cwes":["CWE-269"],"published":"2026-08-22T23:27:18Z","modified":"2026-10-12T16:10:00Z","products":[{"vendor":"marc4","product":"security hardener"}],"references":[{"url":"https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/64f1a71f-e210-4191-bfb4-56f8568180ed?source=cve"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L107"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L180"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L204"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L428"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L433"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/security-hardener/tags/2.4.4/security-hardener.php#L439"},{"url":"https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3630896/security-hardener"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16149"},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-493r-g3qv-5457"}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2026-16149","title":"Security Hardener \u003c= 2.4.4 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via REST API '/wp/v2/users' permission_callback Overwrite","description":"The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.4. The vulnerability exists because the plugin's user-enumeration protection, which is enabled by default, hooks the rest_endpoints filter via secure_user_endpoints() and overwrites every registered handler's permission_callback on both the /wp/v2/users and /wp/v2/users/(?P\u003cid\u003e[\\d]+) routes — including POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE handlers — with a bare closure that returns only is_user_logged_in(), completely stripping WordPress Core's original capability checks such as create_users, promote_user, edit_users, and delete_users that WP_REST_Users_Controller normally enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to create new Administrator accounts by sending POST request to /wp/v2/users with administrator role, or to reset an existing Administrator's password by issuing a PUT/POST request to /wp/v2/users/\u003cid\u003e. Because the block_user_enum option defaults to enabled, no special plugin configuration is required — the overwrite is active on every request as soon as the plugin is installed.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-22T23:27:18.75Z","modified":"2026-08-24T18:19:21.817Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-269"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:20:10.870108Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2026-64605","description":"The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.4. The vulnerability exists because the plugin's user-enumeration protection, which is enabled by default, hooks the rest_endpoints filter via secure_user_endpoints() and overwrites every registered handler's permission_callback on both the /wp/v2/users and /wp/v2/users/(?P\u003cid\u003e[\\d]+) routes — including POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE handlers — with a bare closure that returns only is_user_logged_in(), completely stripping WordPress Core's original capability checks such as create_users, promote_user, edit_users, and delete_users that WP_REST_Users_Controller normally enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to create new Administrator accounts by sending POST request to /wp/v2/users with administrator role, or to reset an existing Administrator's password by issuing a PUT/POST request to /wp/v2/users/\u003cid\u003e. Because the block_user_enum option defaults to enabled, no special plugin configuration is required — the overwrite is active on every request as soon as the plugin is installed.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-22T23:27:18Z","modified":"2026-08-24T18:19:21Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T18:01:34.563496Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-493r-g3qv-5457","title":"The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions...","description":"The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.4. The vulnerability exists because the plugin's user-enumeration protection, which is enabled by default, hooks the rest_endpoints filter via secure_user_endpoints() and overwrites every registered handler's permission_callback on both the /wp/v2/users and /wp/v2/users/(?P\u003cid\u003e[\\d]+) routes — including POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE handlers — with a bare closure that returns only is_user_logged_in(), completely stripping WordPress Core's original capability checks such as create_users, promote_user, edit_users, and delete_users that WP_REST_Users_Controller normally enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to create new Administrator accounts by sending POST request to /wp/v2/users with administrator role, or to reset an existing Administrator's password by issuing a PUT/POST request to /wp/v2/users/\u003cid\u003e. Because the block_user_enum option defaults to enabled, no special plugin configuration is required — the overwrite is active on every request as soon as the plugin is installed.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-23T00:30:22Z","modified":"2026-08-23T00:30:30Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-269"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:10:51.608425Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2026-16149","description":"The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.4. The vulnerability exists because the plugin's user-enumeration protection, which is enabled by default, hooks the rest_endpoints filter via secure_user_endpoints() and overwrites every registered handler's permission_callback on both the /wp/v2/users and /wp/v2/users/(?P\u003cid\u003e[\\d]+) routes — including POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE handlers — with a bare closure that returns only is_user_logged_in(), completely stripping WordPress Core's original capability checks such as create_users, promote_user, edit_users, and delete_users that WP_REST_Users_Controller normally enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to create new Administrator accounts by sending POST request to /wp/v2/users with administrator role, or to reset an existing Administrator's password by issuing a PUT/POST request to /wp/v2/users/\u003cid\u003e. Because the block_user_enum option defaults to enabled, no special plugin configuration is required — the overwrite is active on every request as soon as the plugin is installed.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-23T00:16:50.233Z","modified":"2026-10-12T16:10:00.22Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-269"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:12:41.018848Z"}]}}