Unauthenticated Administrator creation via unrestricted role selection
Published Oct 31, 2025 · Updated Oct 31, 2025
Privilege escalation in King Addons for Elementor 24.12.92 through 51.1.14 allows remote attackers to create Administrator accounts. The handle_register_ajax() method accepts the user_role POST field and passes any non-subscriber value to wp_insert_user without an allowed-role check. No prior account is required; choosing administrator during public registration grants full WordPress site administration.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in King Addons for Elementor 24.12.92 through 51.1.14 allows remote attackers to create Administrator accounts. The handle_register_ajax() method accepts the user_role POST field and passes any non-subscriber value to wp_insert_user without an allowed-role check. No prior account is required; choosing administrator during public registration grants full WordPress site administration.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-8489
- Published
- Oct 31, 2025
- Updated
- Oct 31, 2025
- Vendor
- KingAddons.com
- Product
- King Addons for Elementor
- Classifications
- CWE-269, T1136, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 31, 2025Exploitation reportedWordfence-observed exploitation of King Addons registration
- Oct 31, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 31, 2025Record 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=* <=51.1.14
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Example king_addons_user_register administrator requestfunctional · observed in use
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Reported exploitation
- Wordfence-observed exploitation of King Addons registrationreported exploitation
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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