Paid membership activation via unverified PayPal webhooks
Published Jul 13, 2026 · Updated Jul 13, 2026
Improper authentication in WPEverest User Registration & Membership before 5.2.2 allows remote attackers to activate paid memberships. The public /user-registration/paypal-webhook route accepts CHECKOUT.ORDER.APPROVED JSON without enforcing PayPal signature headers, then marks the referenced pending order complete and its subscription active. Exploitation requires the Membership module, a PayPal-enabled paid plan, and an attacker-created pending signup; it grants the attacker's account access to paid or gated content without payment.
Summary
What happened
Improper authentication in WPEverest User Registration & Membership before 5.2.2 allows remote attackers to activate paid memberships. The public /user-registration/paypal-webhook route accepts CHECKOUT.ORDER.APPROVED JSON without enforcing PayPal signature headers, then marks the referenced pending order complete and its subscription active. Exploitation requires the Membership module, a PayPal-enabled paid plan, and an attacker-created pending signup; it grants the attacker's account access to paid or gated content without payment.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-11964
- Published
- Jul 13, 2026
- Updated
- Jul 13, 2026
- Vendor
- WPEverest
- Product
- User Registration & Membership
- Classifications
- CWE-287, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 13, 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 <5.2.2
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
- WPScan forged PayPal webhook proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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