User Profile Builder <= 4.0.3 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation to 'role' Parameter via Legacy Meta-Name Collision on [wppb-register]

Summary

The User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.3 via the `role` parameter handled by the `wppb_add_meta_to_user_on_activation()` function. The vulnerability exists because the activation handler passes the attacker-supplied role value directly to `WP_User::set_role()` with no allow-list validation, and the 4.0.3 reserved-name check exempts pre-existing form fields from the block, allowing a legacy field with meta-name `role` to persist and bridge attacker-controlled request input into the serialized signup record stored in `wp_signups`. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to gain a fully activated WordPress administrator account by submitting `role=administrator` through the public `[wppb-register]` shortcode form and subsequently clicking the confirmation activation link. Exploitation requires the site to have a legacy form field with meta-name `role` carried over from before the 4.0.3 upgrade, email confirmation enabled, and open user registration — all stable site-state conditions once established.

Timeline

1. Oct 16, 2026, 5:30 AM UTCCVE published
2. Oct 16, 2026, 2:55 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total

3. Oct 16, 2026, 3:09 PM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• cozmoslabs User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor

  through 4.0.3

References 8