CVE-2026-118205: Privilege Escalation (CVSS 7.4)

Description

The Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 6.8.7 via the `page_id` parameter of the `register_user()` function. The vulnerability exists because the handler's post status deny-list rejects `future`, `draft`, and `pending` but admits `inherit` — the status carried by every WordPress revision — allowing an attacker to substitute a revision ID for a live page ID, while a flawed "last saved by administrator" check reads `post_author` on revisions (which reflects the editing administrator) rather than the `_edit_last` meta that is never copied to revisions, and the nonce gate is rendered ineffective because any unauthenticated visitor can freely obtain a valid nonce via the `wp_ajax_nopriv_eael_get_token` endpoint. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to register an account with a role as high as Editor — gaining capabilities including `edit_others_posts`, `publish_pages`, `upload_files`, and `unfiltered_html` — by naming a revision whose `_elementor_data` contains an elevated role an administrator previously saved and later reverted on a page bearing the Login/Register widget. Successful exploitation requires that the site has "Anyone can register" enabled and that an administrator has at some point saved and then reverted a non-default "New User Role" on an affected page.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

7.4

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0047

Probability of exploitation

0.41%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-269 CWE-269

References

Other References

https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/essential-addons-for-elementor-lite/tags/6.8.5/includes/Classes/Bootstrap.php#L216 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/essential-addons-for-elementor-lite/tags/6.8.5/includes/Traits/Ajax_Handler.php#L1817 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/essential-addons-for-elementor-lite/tags/6.8.5/includes/Traits/Login_Registration.php#L1059 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/essential-addons-for-elementor-lite/tags/6.8.5/includes/Traits/Login_Registration.php#L2762 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/essential-addons-for-elementor-lite/tags/6.8.5/includes/Traits/Login_Registration.php#L552 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/essential-addons-for-elementor-lite/tags/6.8.5/includes/Traits/Login_Registration.php#L887 https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3770535/essential-addons-for-elementor-lite/trunk/includes/Traits/Login_Registration.php https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a739cb9a-0b09-4303-8d4a-16fca1152adf?source=cve

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-118205? +

The Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 6.8.7 via the `page_id` parameter of the `register_user()` function. The vulnerability exists because the handler's post status deny-list rejects `future`, `draft`, and `pending` but admits `inherit` — the status carried by every WordPress revision — allowing an attacker to substitute a revision ID for a live page ID, while a flawed "last saved by administrator" check reads `post_author` on revisions (which reflects the editing administrator) rather than the `_edit_last` meta that is never copied to revisions, and the nonce gate is rendered ineffective because any unauthenticated visitor can freely obtain a valid nonce via the `wp_ajax_nopriv_eael_get_token` endpoint. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to register an account with a role as high as Editor — gaining capabilities including `edit_others_posts`, `publish_pages`, `upload_files`, and `unfiltered_html` — by naming a revision whose `_elementor_data` contains an elevated role an administrator previously saved and later reverted on a page bearing the Login/Register widget. Successful exploitation requires that the site has "Anyone can register" enabled and that an administrator has at some point saved and then reverted a non-default "New User Role" on an affected page. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.4 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-118205? +

CVE-2026-118205 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.4 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0047, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-118205? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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