Authenticated privilege escalation via unrestricted usermeta update
Published Aug 4, 2023 · Updated Apr 8, 2026
Privilege escalation in WP Ultimate CSV Importer 7.9.8 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to assign themselves a higher role. The get_header_values function accepts the wp_capabilities->cus1 parameter and writes attacker-controlled role metadata without sufficiently restricting the requested user-meta field. An Author-level account can reach this path only after an administrator grants plugin access, and exploitation changes that account's WordPress privileges.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in WP Ultimate CSV Importer 7.9.8 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to assign themselves a higher role. The get_header_values function accepts the wp_capabilities->cus1 parameter and writes attacker-controlled role metadata without sufficiently restricting the requested user-meta field. An Author-level account can reach this path only after an administrator grants plugin access, and exploitation changes that account's WordPress privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-4140
- Published
- Aug 4, 2023
- Updated
- Apr 8, 2026
- Vendor
- Smackcoders Inc.
- Product
- WP Ultimate CSV Importer
- Classifications
- CWE-269, T1098
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 4, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 8, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=7.9.8
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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