Subscriber-to-Administrator escalation via unrestricted user meta keys
Published Jun 9, 2026 · Updated Jun 9, 2026
Privilege escalation in Events Calendar for GeoDirectory 2.3.28 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to become Administrators. The ajax_ayi_action() handler accepts attacker-controlled type and postid fields without an allowlist and passes them to update_user_meta() as a metadata key and role value. Subscriber-level access is sufficient to set wp_capabilities to administrator, granting full WordPress administrative control on the next request.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Events Calendar for GeoDirectory 2.3.28 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to become Administrators. The ajax_ayi_action() handler accepts attacker-controlled type and postid fields without an allowlist and passes them to update_user_meta() as a metadata key and role value. Subscriber-level access is sufficient to set wp_capabilities to administrator, granting full WordPress administrative control on the next request.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-11616
- Published
- Jun 9, 2026
- Updated
- Jun 9, 2026
- Vendor
- AyeCode Ltd
- Product
- Events Calendar for GeoDirectory
- Classifications
- CWE-269, T1098
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 9, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=2.3.28
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.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo